The promotion of fresh potatoes in the UK is to be boosted by additional funding from the European Union.
This follows an application for co-financing of a European programme for the promotion of fresh potatoes, made jointly by the UK, France and Belgium. This is the first bid by the three countries and will see Potato Council’s levy payers benefit from an additional €0.81 million investment on a promotional campaign over three years.
Last week, it was revealed 19 campaigns across 14 member states in the European Union will receive €30m to support the provision of information on and the promotion of agriculture products.
The total budget of the programmes running between one and three years is €60.6m, of which the EU will contribute €30.3m which must be matched by the member state, with selected programmes covering fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products, flowers, organics and other products.
The Potato Council, a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), has a targeted marketing strategy focusing on low consumers of potatoes. The European programme will provide additional resources and promote a consistent message across the three member states. It will introduce a range of tools to communicate with and appeal to the specific audience of young consumers.
The campaign will commence in the UK with a dedicated Potato Day in October, which will run again in 2011 and 2012 to maximise awareness, and be sustained by activity to give potatoes a renewed image for modern day living.
Caroline Evans, head of marketing and corporate affairs for Potato Council, said: “This is fantastic news for the UK potato industry and of course, the team that have worked on submitting the extensive bid over the last twelve months.
“Consumption patterns across Europe show that younger generation are eating fewer potatoes and this must be addressed if the potato industry is to remain robust. The joint bid with France and Belgium for funding across a shared marketing programme means we can be far more effective in delivering key messages and securing strong demand for fresh potatoes.“
Potato Council chairman and AHDB board member Allan Stevenson added: “This has been a long and detailed process, the outcome of which shows that the EU and member states take the changing trends of potato eating habits very seriously.”
DEFRA minister Jim Paice said: “This will be a real boost to Britain’s potato industry. It’s great news that the Potato Council has secured this joint EU funding to promote the consumption of fresh potatoes in a healthy way.”
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