The French potato sector "on the brink of a major economic imbalance for the 2025/2026 campaign"

"For several weeks now, the French potato market has been going through a worrying period of instability, despite a resolutely solid long-term outlook. The sharp drop in prices on the open market for industrial potatoes and the recent withdrawals from certain contractual commitments have left growers in a state of total uncertainty. However, this situation does not come as a surprise. The refusal of collective dialogue between producers and certain Belgian manufacturers is driving the sector to the brink of a major economic imbalance for the 2025/2026 campaign," according to a press release from UNPT.

Contractual pressure: falling prices dictate the rules of the game
The price drop in recent weeks is not simply a cyclical adjustment: it is deliberate. The sudden 40% fall in the reference price of the Fontane industrial variety in the space of a month is proof of this. This rapid and artificial drop sends a clear message to growers on the eve of planting in 2025. It is part of a strategy to put pressure on current and future contractual commitments, resulting today in a unilateral revision of volumes imposed by a major Belgian operator, with cascading repercussions for all the structures linked to it.

In concrete terms, by announcing an oversupply of contractual volumes for
2025/2026, this player is imposing a unilateral 10-20% reduction in initial tonnage commitments, while pretending to be open to adjusting surface areas to plant volumes. This is just window-dressing when the crop rotation plans have already been finalized and planting is due to start in a few days. Is this situation the result of a lack of foresight or an intolerable strategy aimed at destabilizing the market in order to impose unfavorable purchasing conditions on growers? UNPT categorically denounces these methods and this way of proceeding. By refusing any structured dialogue with producers and their organizations, certain operators are threatening the future balance of the market by encouraging factors of overproduction. Pragmatic and concerted management of the development of acreage would have made it possible to avoid the impasse producers currently find themselves in.

Collective dialogue and contract security in France are not optional!
UNPT reiterates that commercial relations in France must respect the principles of industry dialogue and transparency defined by the EGAlim laws and the GIPT interprofessional agreements. For decades, producer organizations in France have guaranteed the security of production commitments, but today, some manufacturers are choosing to ignore this necessary collective exchange, leading to extreme situations.

UNPT calls on producers and public authorities to take action
Faced with these tensions, UNPT encourages producers to rely on structured supply chains and warns of offers from partners with uncertain commitments. It stands alongside producers, wishing to establish a balanced dialogue with these "new" manufacturers established in France, in order to defend fair and sustainable commercial relations. UNPT also calls on the French government and local authorities to establish a structured framework for consultation between producers and manufacturers, in the spirit of inter-professional agreements. This approach is essential to guarantee the harmonious and sustainable development of potato production in France. If French potato production is to remain competitive and sustainable, there must be a real and fair dialogue between all the players in the sector. UNPT will remain mobilized to defend this balance.