Potato market chronicle May 2018

A disappointing campaign… However, we are currently feeling the effects of the low prices observed this year: a godsend? Sales have rebounded, particularly in Eastern Europe, which has helped us to release varieties and qualities that were not suitable for other markets. Our export figures are therefore positive.
Consumer demands

The local policy is upsetting and disrupting our habits. Climate change, our new culinary lifestyles and organic farming are forcing us to rethink everything in order to adapt to consumer demands. Consumers are demanding quality and food safety, not quantity. All this forces us to question ourselves.

Forecast for the 2018-2019 potato season

At present, there is still strong demand for exports, and there are still some goods available, but they do not meet the quality standards of our historical buyers. Fortunately, we’re seeing a delay in early sales in general. We’ll be doing the end-of-drawer business, no doubt with a shortfall, which is likely to have an impact on the start of the campaign.

In conclusion, it’s still too early to define the 2018-2019 campaign. However, some figures have already been released, and it would appear that there will not be a significant drop in surface areas. In fact, the 5 producing countries are steadily increasing compared to previous years. NPEG forecasts a slight increase, so the drop won’t be obvious, but we all know that the weather can change everything. Early crops will be late everywhere, and heavy rains in some countries in April will undoubtedly delay the new harvest, and because of the delay in early crops, we can expect a difficult lean season.