Potato grower and packer Meade Potato Company has entered the starch commodity market by extracting starch from surplus potatoes and potato processing by-products.
The new development will help to reduce food waste; add higher value to the national potato crop; increase import substitution; and create new export opportunities, the company contended.
A testament to the versatility of the potato, its starch is a common ingredient used in food manufacturing for binding and thickening. Year-on-year growth in the starch market is at 9% for the past six years due to its increased use in sustainable packaging, meat-free and sugar-free foodstuffs.
Awards
The company was recently presented with an award for best sustainable packaging strategy in the Green Food and Beverage Awards, emerging victorious against the likes of Coca Cola, ABP and Aurivo. Its 100% compostable paper Meade 2kg white potatoes bag was one element of an overall strategy to become more sustainable in food packaging.
Jointly with FoodCloud, the company also took the gong for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of the year for its ‘gleaning’ project, a joint initiative with FoodCloud community foodbank.
The project offers corporate volunteers from companies such as Lidl Ireland and AIB an opportunity to gather and donate crops left over in the field after harvest to FoodCloud’s foodbank. Teambuilding and farm-to-fork education opportunities are valued side benefits of this project.
Market growth
The potato starch market has grown by 11% since last year. This type is appealing to manufacturers because it is gluten-free, has a higher viscosity than corn starch and is flavourless, the company said.
In 1996, Meade Potato Company was the first to export potatoes by the boat load to Europe for the starch manufacturers abroad, according to the company.
It has continued to export over the past 20 years but has focused on its core business of supplying potatoes, fruit and vegetables to the retail market. This latest venture is hailed as a commitment to diversification, innovation and sustainability.
Higher value
“Since my father first started in the potato business over 40 years ago, we have been looking for new markets and trying to add higher value to the potato crop,” said Philip Meade jnr, commercial director, Meade Potato Company.
Our entrance into the starch market is a natural evolution of our business, going from exporting potatoes for overseas starch production, installing potato peeling and processing lines and now re-investing in a starch extraction unit at our farm. We hope it will boost the potato market and offer food manufacturers a local, premium quality alternative.
The company has already started to export to the UK and hopes to expand into other export markets in the next two years.
“Our credentials as an Irish company that is strong on sustainability and part of the Origin Green accreditation programme is already helping us open doors abroad,” said Cliona Costello, R&D manager at Meade. “What seals the deal though is that it is an excellent product.”
The enterprise has added 10 direct jobs and 50 indirect jobs to a rural area in the Boyne Valley. Approximately 350 are employed in its various divisions – potatoes, fruit, vegetables, prepared foods and starch. The company supplies approximately 35,000t of potatoes to its retail and food service customers annually.
“This was a good season overall but quite dry at the beginning and a little bit wet at the end. These conditions have led to some growth cracks, greens and some pest damage but overall the quality is very good,” said Philip Meade jnr.
The yields are average but down 10-15% in some parts of the country. The wet weather just recently has made harvesting slightly difficult but we luckily have finished our potato harvest for the season. Demand was strong during the initial lockdown but it has since stabilised and sales are steady now.
The starch unit will initially be part-powered by a wind turbine, with planning in place for 300kW of solar panels which should render the plant’s energy operations carbon neutral.
It is estimated that within the next two years, transport carbon emissions of starch into Ireland will be reduced by 90t, based on Meade’s sales projections.
Circular economy
“Initiatives like this one that link innovation to sustainability are core to our family farm business. They tick all the boxes of filling a major gap in the market with a smart solution driven by the circular economy,” said Eleanor Meade, business operations manager.
It takes a potato one hour and a journey through approximately 300m of machinery before it is turned into starch. It can take from 7t to 8t of potatoes to make 1t of starch, depending on the dry matter content, variety and time of the year.
Along the way, the potato undergoes 22 stages before it is turned into pure food grade starch. The rasping stage uses 102 knives going 2,500 revolutions per minute and the gas burner reaches 180°.
Research is currently being undertaken to use Meade potato starch in the manufacture of compostable packaging.