Potato processors have bought at least free potatoes for processing this season. The chips are produced from potatoes on contract plus the excess kilos that are supplied. Never before has the position of the free potato been so small in processing.
A few years ago, more than a third of all potatoes for the chip industry were purchased freely. This season, only 17% of the volume consists of free potatoes. This mainly concerns the excess kilos that are supplied with the contracted potatoes. According to figures from the French processing organization GIPT, 68.000 tons of free potatoes have been processed in the country so far this season.
Less processing
With potato processing of 95.000 tonnes in May, the total for the 2020-21 season has been increased to 1,058 million tonnes. This is 19.000 tons below last year. This difference is largely due to the month of May. Last month, 15.000 fewer tonnes were processed in France than was the case a year earlier in May. Compared to April, processing decreased by 10.000 tons. This is special because the consumption and export of fries has increased significantly worldwide.
Because processors were able to manage with fewer potatoes thanks to the lower processing speed, hardly any free potatoes were purchased. This is clearly visible in the figures. Over the entire season - since July last year - a total of 877.000 tons of contracted potatoes have been processed. 113.000 tons have been imported and the remainder are free potatoes. With 1 processing month left in the current season, the figure is not expected to be much higher than the previous season.
Declining market
For example, the market for free potatoes is 'firing out' as it is often called in the sector. Some growers have turned off the cooling for weeks to avoid incurring costs. The only buyers are livestock farmers and especially biogas plants. Problems with the connection between the old and new harvest are not expected, despite the cold spring.
A point of concern for the new harvest is the persistent drought. It is dry everywhere in the country and irrigation is used for tuber formation where possible. The differences per region are large and partly depend on the planting date and temperature. The rain and thunderstorms that the Benelux received largely passed by France. Only significant rain fell on the coast.