2019

Publication author: Jean-Marc Storper – SARL Maison Mendel Potato market chronicle September 2019 All market chronicles The bluster of the previous campaign is well and truly over. Prices remain buoyant at very correct levels for a grubbing-up period, due to persistent drought. The open market is calm, with operators loading their contracts. The industry, which obtains its supplies from England and Holland (where crops have been better irrigated), is playing down the price in France, deliberately displaying unrealistically high prices. Back-to-school promotions are struggling to materialize, given the impossible grubbing-up conditions. In the absence of Bintje, some operations are being carried out with early varieties… But we’re going to have to get used to the idea in France that Bintje is gradually disappearing! This is a harsh reality for the end consumer, who has often enjoyed them since childhood. Exports are on the up! Spain and Italy are there, both in washable and packaged form, washed or unwashed. In this context of drought, shot (especially firm-fleshed shot) seems strangely to be the most sought-after product. The big question now is: “When will the saving rain come, enabling Hauts-de-France and Belgium to harvest in good conditions? What will we harvest, and will we be able to preserve it? As usual, we won’t know until the end of November, unless abnormal weather conditions permanently disrupt our calendar. We wish you all a good start to the campaign!

Publication author: Christelle Denis – SARL D.Vegetables Potato market chronicle November 2019 All market chronicles After a drought and unprecedented heat that disrupted harvesting in September, we were waiting for rain to save the day so that we could harvest in non-irrigated regions; but the large quantities of rain that poured down did not facilitate harvesting in the northern regions of France.Balanced production on the market? The announced production seems to be in balance: unwashed sales to export markets made good progress in September; refrigerators are not overflowing, and crop prices are holding steady and do not seem to be falling. We can assume that this market situation will remain comfortable, but if we take a closer look at sales, will the situation continue like this? Sales of unwashed, non-contracted potatoes got off to a flying start in August-September, and have stabilized since October. If sales continue at this pace, there will be no shortage of potatoes, and it is conceivable that prices could fall in the 2nd half of the season. Household consumption If we take a closer look at household consumption of fresh potatoes, every year we lose consumers to ready-to-eat or quicker-to-prepare products; last season’s high in-store prices didn’t help win back new consumers! As usual, the end of the calendar year is no foregone conclusion! Let’s not fall asleep and continue to listen to our markets to meet their demands.

Publication author: Michèle Adoardi pour La Pomme de Terre française Potato market chronicle July 2019 All market chronicles On the consumer market, the lack of merchandise continues to drive up prices. Today, the price of 5kg washed reaches at least €620/T. It is €600 to €630/T for 50+mm washes packed in big bags. As a reminder, last year, market prices were in the region of 130-170€/T in big bags. That’s 3 times more expensive than last year! Faced with an obvious shortage of goods, our customers don’t even try to negotiate. The rise in prices has accelerated since the beginning of April, due to the scarcity of quality and choice of products. SARL Desruelles-Courtage, a potato brokerage firm, trades around 10,000t/year mainly to Italy. Demand for Agata is still very high this year, but stocks are now depleted. Varieties such as Challenger, Orchestra and Colomba have taken over. French quality continues to seduce.

Publication author:Michèle Adoardi pour La Pomme de Terre française Potato market chronicle May 2019 All market chronicles On the consumer market, the lack of merchandise continues to drive up prices. Today, the price of 5kg washed reaches at least €620/T. It is €600 to €630/T for 50+mm washes packed in big bags. As a reminder, last year, market prices were in the region of 130-170€/T in big bags. That’s 3 times more expensive than last year! Faced with an obvious shortage of goods, our customers don’t even try to negotiate. The rise in prices has accelerated since the beginning of April, due to the scarcity of quality and choice of products. SARL Desruelles-Courtage, a potato brokerage firm, trades around 10,000t/year mainly to Italy. Demand for Agata is still very high this year, but stocks are now depleted. Varieties such as Challenger, Orchestra and Colomba have taken over. French quality continues to seduce.

Publication author: Jérôme Bonnier – J B Grains SARL Chronique de marchée mars 2019 All market chronicles Le secteur de la pomme de terre est fascinant. Une campagne se termine avec des volumes invendus à des prix défiant toute concurrence, et la suivante arrive avec une pénurie et des prix fous. Ici, tout se vend, même les déchets. L’idée d’arrêter la commercialisation de l’ancienne récolte pour faire place à la nouvelle n’est plus d’actualité. La nature est de moins en moins prévisible. Une année avec de très fortes pluies, puis une autre avec une canicule. Que nous réserve 2019 : de la neige en mai ? Les aléas climatiques sont bons pour la profession. La production et les stocks sont régulés naturellement, et non par un algorithme. Comme souvent après une année de prix très élevés, il semblerait qu’il y ait encore une volonté d’augmenter les surfaces pour la campagne 2019, freinée par le manque de végétaux. Les aléas climatiques ont montré que la filière est capable du meilleur comme du pire en termes de prix d’achat. Toujours à la recherche de la matière la moins chère, ils sont tout à fait capables de nous surprendre avec des prix qui peuvent nous paraître disproportionnés, mais qui peuvent simplement être des prix normaux de production. En ce qui concerne l’exportation, les derniers camions partent. Quelques spéculateurs s’accrochent encore pour vendre. Le jackpot des prix gonflés va-t-il arriver ? Nous recevons beaucoup de demandes que nous ne pouvons pas satisfaire, en raison de la disponibilité et des prix prohibitifs. Certains acheteurs ne peuvent tout simplement pas suivre. Avec des frigos complètement vides plus tôt que prévu, à la mi-avril, la campagne 2018 devrait être terminée. Les négociants précoces récolteront des pommes de terre savoureuses. Les consommateurs apprécieront. Les producteurs des pays méditerranéens ont bien compris qu’ils avaient une carte à jouer. Les premières livraisons en provenance d’Israël et d’Égypte sont déjà arrivées, avec un supplément de prix de vingt pour cent. Les premières pommes de terre italiennes (Sicile) sont prévues pour fin mars, début avril. Le Portugal et l’Espagne seront présents à partir de fin avril, début mai. En Allemagne, les premières pommes de terre précoces arriveront à la mi-mai. La Beauce a réussi à planter quelques hectares en février. Si tout va bien, la récolte commencera début juillet. Les prix devraient se maintenir au moins jusqu’en septembre.

Publication author: Fréderic Laviron – Site internet Roussineau Potato market chronicle January 2019 All market chronicles What if 2019 brought a breath of fresh air? There are so many challenges ahead – technological, regulatory, qualitative – that this second half of the potato marketing year could prove unique. Everyone agrees that we should be able to market the entire French production without difficulty before June.A dynamic start to the year on the market Export figures are good overall, and will undoubtedly remain buoyant towards our neighboring countries, albeit with strong variations in acceptance of high prices, particularly in Italy. The start of the year has been marked by unexpectedly dynamic demand, particularly from Greece. But the problems lie elsewhere: strong industrial demand is disrupting the fresh potato market, and it is sometimes impossible to meet foreign demand for bag-brushed fritable varieties; the foreseeable end of CIPC marketing and use will lead to profound varietal changes, with the choice of producing longer-life varieties, while the use of more expensive alternative preservatives remains marginal today. What about marketing our production after April? Are we ready to reduce our production area to make way for French early produce or imported products from the Mediterranean basin? Will we lose our leadership in fresh potato exports to Europe? What new varieties for what market? The demand for residue analysis by supermarkets is accelerating. Today, there is a real shortage of seed potatoes, of the order of 15 to 20%, for the next season. And yet, as plant breeders take exact stock of what’s available, it doesn’t appear that the area planted will decrease… in fact, it may even increase. Paradoxical, isn’t it? A generous nature? Have we already forgotten that we sold out our 2017 production in September 2018, all over Europe? I like to remind you that, if prices are high this year, this is exclusively linked to a very sharp drop in yields in northern European countries, due to drought. If nature is generous in 2019, another challenge awaits us…