Households buy fewer potatoes
“While it is estimated the average Irish household purchased approximately 190kg of fresh potatoes during 2004, the trend continues to be downwards,” she said.
Ms Coughlan said there was an image problem among younger people with a belief that potatoes are time-consuming to prepare, fattening and unfashionable And there is competition from other carbohydrates such as rice and pasta, which have shown huge volume increases in recent years. “With a greater prevalence of obesity in our population, consumers are looking towards the convenience of quick-fix diets such as the Atkins diet.” MsCoughlan told the congress, hosted by the Irish Potato Federation, that the industry was responding to these challenges.
She said she was pleased to see good projects being developed in the value-added sector with the help of State funding under the National Development Plan.
Over the past six months, infrastructural investments costing over €16 million have been approved by her department with grant support of some €6.5m under the marketing and processing scheme.
“This represents a considerable degree of confidence in the future of the sector,” she told delegates, who are discussing the future of the industry, which in volume terms amounts to close on 60 million tonnes of potatoes within the enlarged EU.
“The changes in Ireland’s potato industry mirror those taking place elsewhere in Europe and internationally, added Ms Coughlan.
