After the traditionally early start of the new potato season in the south-west of the Netherlands, in the north the larger volumes are now slowly being harvested. "Although there is still a lot of grubbing to do, yields in our area seem better than in the south-west, although it has to be said that the differences locally are big. It's a similar story when it comes to quality, as in the early segment the tare percentage was quite high," says Frank Poelman, head of procurement at potato wholesaler Landjuweel.
"However, it does remain very difficult to estimate how big the yields are actually going to be. There are plots where grubbing is only 60% of the average of previous years, but there are also plots with 20% higher yields. But there is still a lot of grubbing to do, as the season is a lot later and there are plenty of plots that still have potential. All in all, I expect we will end up with a reasonably average harvest in the EU's big four potato countries. In the Netherlands and Belgium, yields are expected to be lower, but high yields are expected for Germany and France."
"In any case, demand for potatoes is good. Traditionally, potato sales show a dip in the summer, but this year demand has been less quiet than other years and sales have continued quite well. Also, export figures are certainly not bad at the moment. Early potatoes did not run over in terms of volume, but what is being grubbed up is also sold off reasonably well. Prices fell hard after the old harvest, but we are now seeing a stabilisation in the market. In about three weeks, there will probably be a supply boom for a while. That normally puts a bit more pressure on prices, but seeing how everything is finding its way now, I expect reasonably stable prices."
"If we look a little further ahead, I expect there to be a plus in the price around the turn of the year and possibly towards the end of winter or the beginning of spring an even slightly bigger rebound. I see no reason to expect excesses, like we saw at the end of last season," Frank continues. "However, I do expect a big price difference between the larger and smaller lots. The supply of large potatoes is still limited, but they're in good demand. The smaller lots already cost significantly less."
The buyer calls the situation in organic potatoes very challenging. "Because of the Phytophthora pressure, some organic growers have been forced to spray, even forcing organic potatoes to be sold as conventional. Moreover, yields in organics are very poor. All lots are very fine, and yields have done quite a bit at 20 tons per hectare. In the organic market, prices are already high and I also expect that they will certainly not decrease due to the tight supply."
For more information:
Frank Poelman
Landjuweel
Tel: +31 (0)595 454 200
[email protected]
www.landjuweel.nl