POTATOEUROPE showcased the latest technology and innovations in potato cultivation to an international audience drawn from all sectors of the potato supply chain when it took place near Hanover recently.
Trade visitors experienced the latest developments to aid in crop production and supply, including machinery in field use, and exchanges with experts. The focus was on the entire value chain – from breeding to processing.
The event, which took place at Rittergut Gestorf estate near Hanover, Germany, brought together around 10,100 trade visitors and 300 exhibitors from across the globe for a practical, innovation-driven showcase. In total, 79 countries were represented.
Live demonstrations featured more than 50 machinery combinations, showing self-propelled units and stationary systems being operated under real field conditions. Core themes focused heavily on sustainable production, efficiency, and competitiveness in root crop management, while on-site features included specialised trial plots, dynamic demonstration fields, and the DLG Expert Stage.
Organisers described the event as ‘an essential international meeting place’.
Feedback from exhibitors and visitors at the event focussed on climate resilience, precision handling, and strategic industry collaboration
Interseed Potatoes GmbH representatives said that because the event only happens in Germany once every four years, it felt like a crucial “home game” that generated valuable, intensive customer discussions.
UK vegetable-handling manufacturer Haith and GRIMME, which manufactures machinery for soil preparation and planting, harvesting, handling and storage,teamed up to co-exhibit together for the first time this year. Haith’s Managing Director Duane Hill said this had been of great value in bringing together the two companies’ respective portfolios to demonstrate unified solutions from field planting and harvesting straight through to post-harvest washing, grading, and packing.
Fellow machinery manufacturer, Dewulf, used the event spotlight to unveil new Kwatro Generation 3 harvester and feature a live demonstration of the harvester. The company also showcased the Certa 40 Integral planter coupled with a Lemken Zirkon 12 power harrow.
Lincolnshire-based firm Scotts Precision Manufacturing displayed its Evolution Separator, allowing international visitors to see its technical field-to-factory sorting solutions up close.
AgTech and agribusiness company Syngenta, which specialises in crop protection and seeds, used the event to address the intersection of safety and efficiency, focusing discussions with growers and advisers on tools like its SprayAssist app for smarter field applications and its InterraScan soil-scanning service to build precision into volatile seasons.
Biological crop protection companies Biofa GmbH & ABiTEP, who are part of the Andermatt Group, held extensive technical exchanges regarding the practical field applications of biological solutions amidst rising demands for environmental compliance.
Distributor APH Group representatives said the event had been “highly successful” for them and had enabled them to connect with a large influx of global partners and host vital conversations concerning the future of automated potato handling.
PotatoEurope is a major international open-air trade fair and exhibition dedicated exclusively to the entire potato value chain, from breeding and cultivation to harvesting, storage, and processing. The event takes place annually, rotating sequentially among four core partner countries: Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium.
Organised by a joint network of partner organisations across four host countries, it has been running for 20 years. This year’s event, being hosted in Germany, was organised by the DLG (German Agricultural Society) in cooperation with the Union of the German Potato Industry (UNIKA).
Next year’s event, which will be hosted by Belgium, will be organised by Fedagrim, the Belgian agricultural machinery association, and will take place on September 8th and 9th, 2027, in Tournai, Belgium.
Last year’s PotatoEurope was hosted by the Netherlands at Wageningen University & Research (WUR) Field Crops in Lelystad and organised by DLG Benelux (a subsidiary of DLG) while France’s event in 2024 was led by the agricultural research institute ARVALIS alongside the potato organisation Fedepom and was held in Villers-Saint-Christophe.
