Nuffield scholarship for a horticulturalist from the potato industry (PT18001)

What was it all about?

This project provided funding to support a Nuffield Scholar in the potato industry, and Kerri-Ann Lamb from Wickham Farms in Queensland was selected as the potato industry’s 2019 Scholar.

Nuffield Scholarships are a chance for Australians in agriculture to grow their practical knowledge and a broad variety of skills, while heading overseas to study a topic related to their industry. The scholar supported by the potato levy will study emerging trends, risks and opportunities, to deliver insights on how the potato industry can prepare itself now for the future.

Kerri-Ann’s research encompassed emerging trends, risks and opportunities in the fresh-cut potato, sweet potato, onion and pumpkin market, to determine what the industry should be doing now to prepare itself for the future.

Kerri-Ann interviewed and examined potato growers, packers, value-add facilities, and supermarket offerings across Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong and China.

Kerri-Ann observed that the industry is highly competitive and consumer habits and trends evolve quickly. She found there are five key factors driving change within the potato industry:

• Consumer behaviour, including health convenience and social responsibility
• Consumer messaging, and the roles of industry bodies, product promotion and media influence
• Current retail strategies used by supermarkets and smaller innovative businesses
• Current trends
• Future opportunities.

Kerri-Ann concluded that producers need to be aware of market trends and adapt in order to stay competitive, otherwise it is likely that some producers may be left behind.

ACT NOW

Read Kerri-Ann’s full report, titled Future Growth for Potatoes – Current and emerging trends as drivers to growth and innovation, by downloading the PDF at the top of this page.

Kerri-Ann presented the findings of her study via the 2021 Nuffield Australia webinar series, which you can view on their YouTube channel here.