Potato staples are moving from novelty to popularity
Editor's note: As the industrialization of potato staple food development accelerates, more and more potato staple products are moving from laboratory R&D into the consumer market, winning favor with consumers for their unique flavor and balanced nutrition. Potato staple products not only enrich the dining table and change people's eating habits, but also promote the integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries in potato-producing areas. With continuously strengthening policy support and technical backing, potato staples can be expected to become popular.
Wuhan's nationally famous snack, hot dry noodles, now has a new twist. Unlike traditional hot dry noodles made from wheat flour, hot dry noodles made from potatoes have a unique flavor and have now successfully entered Wuhan's snack market. Among them, Dahan Kou brand potato hot dry noodles even won a gold award at last year's China Agricultural Expo.
Across the country, in addition to hot dry noodles, various potato staple products such as potato youtiao, potato instant rice, potato dorayaki and potato rice noodles have emerged from the laboratory one after another and begun to appear on ordinary people's dining tables. Potato staple products are moving from an initial niche novelty to popularity, changing and influencing more people's eating habits.
"Almost anything you can imagine, you can eat. Breakthroughs in processing technology and the development of the industry have given potato staple products more opportunities to reach the mass dining table. It can be said that the potato industry has now become a sunrise industry." Dai Xiaofeng, director of the Institute of Food Science and Technology at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said this recently at the 2016 annual meeting of the National Potato Staple Processing Industry Alliance and the Potato Staple Development Technical Cooperation Group held in Keshan County, Heilongjiang Province.
Staple products incorporate regional characteristics as potatoes achieve "seventy-two transformations"
Freshly made potato beef buns, potato mooncakes in various shapes, crispy and delicious potato oil cakes... On August 25, the exhibition hall of the Kunfeng Potato Seed Potato Professional Cooperative in Keshan County was crowded with people, as potato staple processing enterprises from all over the country showcased their latest potato staple products.
"These potato staple products almost all incorporate local characteristics, with diverse forms and rich flavors. The tiny potato has achieved 'seventy-two transformations.'" Pan Libing, deputy director of the Agricultural Product Processing Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, introduced that in the past, potato staple products were mainly noodles and steamed buns, but now China already has more than 240 potato products in six major series, and the variety is still constantly expanding. Moreover, the proportion of whole potato flour added is gradually increasing, and some foods with optimized formulas have already brought the potato share in staple products to 50%.
In 2015, China proposed a strategy for developing potato staple products, and since then, key potato processing technologies have continuously achieved breakthroughs. Household potato noodle machines, large-scale potato extruded noodle production lines and potato steamed bun production lines have become increasingly mature, while also attracting more and more industrial and commercial capital to invest in the potato staple processing industry.
According to statistics, in terms of technology R&D, the research team of the Ministry of Agriculture alone has already formed more than 120 core patents for potato staple products, with more than 20 patent transfers last year; in terms of the number of enterprises, in the 9 pilot provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) including Beijing and Hebei, and 7 pilot cities including Shanghai, Harbin and Hangzhou, more than 200 enterprises have participated in the development of the potato staple industry. At the same time, in key potato production and sales areas such as Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Gansu, potato processing is gradually transitioning to staple food processing.
With processing technology breakthroughs, enterprises emerging and production lines built, the development of potato staple products has entered a fast lane. Take Beijing Haile Da Food Company as an example: the company's 46 potato products, including potato steamed buns, flower rolls and cakes, have entered more than 700 supermarket outlets in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Potato staple products produced by Gansu Jupeng Halal Food Co., Ltd. have even gone abroad.
"Due to constraints in processing technology, there were not many potato staple products before, and after entering supermarkets, the prices were not low, making them relatively niche. But now, the emergence of various potato staple products with unique local characteristics makes it easier for them to enter people's daily lives." Zhang Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Food Science and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said with emotion.
Sun Litao is the general manager of Heilongjiang Xingjia Potato Industry Co., Ltd. and also the chairman of Litao Potato Professional Cooperative. It is currently potato harvest season, and in his potato seed potato base in Lianxin Village, Shuanghe Town, Keshan County, high-power potato harvesters are busy working.
"This year's harvest is similar to last year's, and the price should be better than last year. I am very confident in the potato industry." Sun Litao said that the cooperative mainly cultivates, plants and sells potato seed potatoes, with more than 10,000 mu of black soil planted with 7 potato food varieties and 2 processing varieties. In his view, the proposal of the staple food development strategy has broadened the potato market. Sun Litao told reporters that next year he plans to gradually increase the R&D and planting of potato varieties specifically for processing.
Keshan County, where Sun Litao is located, is China's "hometown of potatoes." At present, potato harvesting in the county has basically achieved mechanization. Deputy County Magistrate Zhao Jun frankly told reporters that nowadays, more and more cooperatives are making great efforts in potato staple development, forming a full-chain development pattern integrating seed potato breeding, commercial potato planting, sales and processing, and promoting the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. "In the future, we will systematically introduce various potato food processing enterprises, deeply develop potato table foods and nutritional foods, and build the largest potato industry processing park in Northeast China." Zhao Jun is full of expectations for the future of the potato industry.
"Potatoes have high added value and can better achieve value-added processing and gains, making it easier to connect the primary, secondary and tertiary industries." Pan Libing believes that among agricultural products, the potato staple processing industry is the easiest to achieve integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. At present, potatoes are grown across a wide area in China, with 70% of impoverished areas planting potatoes. In the impoverished areas of northwest China, southwest China and high mountain regions, they remain an important food and cash crop in China. "Once the entire industrial chain is connected, added value increases and the whole industry develops, potatoes can help more farmers escape poverty and become wealthy."
Ningxia, located in western China, is one of China's main potato-producing areas. According to Kang Bo, director of the Planting Industry Management Bureau of the Ningxia Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department, after going through three development stages - the starch industry, fresh-food quick sales, and seed potato industry development - the Ningxia potato industry has now ushered in the staple food development stage. The traditional industry is regaining vitality, and now the scale of Ningxia's potato industry is continuously expanding, with benefits further improved. There are not only French fries and hash browns supplied to McDonald's, but also regional products such as youtiao, sanzi and mahua that conform to Ningxia's Hui dietary characteristics, and these products have already entered communities and campuses, gaining popular favor.
At present, more than 70 countries, including China, list potatoes as a staple food. Experts predict that in the coming years, market demand for potatoes will show significant growth, and the impact on prices will also be very notable. Taking seed potatoes alone as an example, China's annual demand reaches 12 million tons, while demand for potato starch and its derivatives reaches more than 800,000 tons, increasing by 10% each year. It can be said that the potato industry has enormous market space, and potato staples can be expected to become popular.
"The potato staple industry can help us solve the dual pressures on resources and the environment, and is a lever and breakthrough point for advancing the transformation of agricultural development modes and structural adjustment and promoting the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. In the next 30 years, China will be in a strategic opportunity period, golden period and critical period for the development of the agricultural product processing industry, and the potato staple processing industry will be an important field. Going forward, we must give full play to the role of the industry alliance and strive to achieve the goal of 'by 2020, staple food consumption accounting for 30% of total potato consumption.'" Dai Xiaofeng said.
Despite the broad prospects, Pan Libing also pointed out that there are still some problems in current potato staple development: "For example, relative to the eating habits that ordinary people find hard to change, we still do not have enough specialized processing varieties, and in addition, technical equipment and product categories need to be further strengthened." He frankly said that processing is indeed a weak link and a key link, and it is necessary to let the processing industry take the lead, promote the integration of production, processing and sales, and promote the integrated development of the three industries.
In terms of policy support, taking the subsidy policy for primary processing at agricultural product production areas as an example, a large portion of China's annual subsidies is used for primary processing of potatoes at production areas and investment in storage warehouses, which also creates conditions for making potatoes a staple food.
Kang Bo hopes that in future potato staple product development, relevant departments can continue to increase policy support and guidance. "At present, the policy content for potato processing is still relatively narrow, the subsidy standards are still on the low side, and enterprises' enthusiasm for product development still needs to be further improved."