Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
May 30, 2012

The official Closing ceremonies of the 8th World Potato Congress (WPC) at Edinburgh, Scotland, were highlighted by the presentation of the triennial Industry Awards. The awards recognize outstanding personal contribution and leadership, related to development and progress of the global potato industry.

The awards were presented by World Potato Congress Inc. President and CEO, Allan Parker, and Awards Committee Chair, Douglas Harley. Four individuals were presented with symbolic plaques to commemorate the occasion.

The 2012 award recipients are: Dr. Stuart Carnegie, Scotland; Guy Van den Broeke, Belgium; Luc Van den Broeke, Belgium; Ennio Pizzoli, Italy.

Here is a short version of the citations for the award recipients.

Dr Stuart Carnegie: The author of over 70 papers on potato pathology. His pragmatic application of potato research to the Scottish Seed Potato Classification Scheme has won the respect of both government and industry. He provided practical technical support to seed potato classification in Scotland and was instrumental in drafting Scotland’s seed potato legislation.
As part of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Specialised Section on Standardisation of Seed Potatoes, he was instrumental in drafting the UNECE seed potato standard and advocating its promotion to countries worldwide as the basis for seed potato classification and trade across the world.

Guy and Luc Van den Broeke: Spent their careers in the potato industry building a small family operation into a major international concern. In the process they laid the foundation for the Belgian potato processing industry, which has developed to become one of the world leaders in the sector.
The brothers understood the value of brand identification long before others caught on to its market potential. Their company, “Lutosa” is the only potato processor in Belgium working with a brand and the successful slogan (in Dutch): ‘schatjes van patatjes’ which means: ‘little potato darlings’.
Throughout their careers both brothers provided leadership and direction to help grow the Belgian Potato Industry.

Ennio Pizzoli: At the young age of 85 years, Ennio Pizzoli remains President of Pizzoli Spa; Italy’s largest potato processor and a market leader in frozen french fries and potato products.
Ennio lived his life for potatoes, being an extraordinary developer of potato culture and know-how in Italy, a country traditionally devoted to cereal based carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and pizza. Throughout his career Ennio Pizzoli has fostered innovation and development in the Italian potato industry. He introduced planting and harvesting machines, various potato varieties to meet a growing demand, and a business culture focused on marketing and sales, as well as customer satisfaction.
His contribution to the growth and development of the potato industry in Italy “from seed to finished product” is recognized in Italy and across Europe.
 

Website: http://www.potatocongress.org

Published: May 30, 2012