With the considerably smaller harvest in Europe, the importance of early potatoes in 2019 is extra great. However, as one of the suppliers of early potatoes, Israel is expected to have less available for export.
In recent years, exports from Israel to Europe have decreased, but this year the potatoes from the country are more than welcome. The irony, however, is that the country now has much less product available.
Shrinking market
The country exported approximately 2018 tons in 220.000 (out of a total yield of approximately 600.000 tons). And about 200.000 tons of that went to Europe, by far the largest share. Export is also fully focused on the months of March to June.
The focus is on those months because the Israelis then have a good position on the market. However, sales have been disappointing in recent years. European importers are increasingly opting for potatoes from storage, especially after a harvest like 2017. Storage in Europe is improving, which means that Israel is faced with a shrinking market.
Potato cultivation is therefore becoming less interesting for many growers. The focus is now more on the local market. Moreover, the seed potatoes cost a lot and less of the product was available. As a result, the area of early potatoes would have shrunk.
Less supply
This winter the favorable weather was added. It is still difficult to assess the extent of this effect. Mainly due to a shrunken area, the number of Israeli potatoes for the European market is expected to be smaller.