India: Deepak Soni, Who Ran a 150,000-Tonne Potato Value Chain With 400 Contract Farmers, Joins the Potato Expert Panel
Deepak Soni of ITC Foods, who managed a 150,000-tonne potato value chain at PepsiCo and now sources processing potatoes for about 15 factories in India, joins the Potato Expert Panel by Potatoes.News.
Deepak Soni, Senior Manager – Procurement at ITC Foods in India, has joined the Potato Expert Panel by Potatoes.News. He brings experience from both sides of the processing potato business: growing the crop with farmers and buying it for factories.
From 400 contract farmers to 15 factories
During his years at PepsiCo, Soni managed an integrated potato value chain of more than 150,000 tonnes and worked with more than 400 farmers across India through seed and ware potato contract farming programmes. His work covered seed development, varietal selection, agronomy, farmer engagement, crop planning, cold storage management, processing quality and production optimisation.
At ITC Foods he now leads strategic sourcing of processing potatoes and potato flakes for the Bingo! snack portfolio, supplying approximately 15 processing facilities across India.
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Areas of expertise
- Potato value chain management
- Contract farming and farmer engagement
- Processing potato procurement
- Storage and supply chain optimisation
- Potato processing quality and agronomy
Soni will comment for Potatoes.News readers on processing potato supply, contract farming models, storage and quality requirements of the processing industry in India.
WHY IT MATTERS
India is one of the world’s fastest-growing potato processing markets, and the quality of raw material — variety, dry matter, storage — decides whether factories run at full capacity. For growers and traders, a procurement manager’s view shows what processors actually require and how contract farming can link smallholders to that demand. Soni is the panel’s first member from Asia’s processing industry, joining scientists from South Africa, Uganda and Indonesia who were introduced in our panel launch article.
Join the panel
Potatoes.News invites potato professionals from any country to join the Potato Expert Panel. To apply, write to v.kovalev@potatoes.news with a short biography (80–150 words), your areas of expertise, your country and organisation, and a portrait photo. The panel is the first step towards an international network of potato professionals that we are building together with the International Potato Tour.
Based on the profile submitted by Deepak Soni for the Potato Expert Panel. Read his expert profile.
