A third of all French fries potatoes are sent to our (Belgian) neighbors every year to be processed into fries. This will change in the next seven years if the French have their way. Advocacy group GIPT aims to double production during that period. Three manufacturers – from Belgium of all places – are already working hard on it.
In mid-December, the French GIPT (Groupement Interprofessionnel pour la Valorisation de la Pomme de Terre) organized its annual meeting in Paris. It became clear that the European potato world has big plans for processing and French fries production in France. While Belgium has been the leader in the production of frozen fries for the past twenty years, that role will increasingly shift to their southern neighbors in the future under pressure from the search for potatoes.
Processed a quarter across the border
"Of all the potatoes grown annually in France, three quarters are intended for the processing industry," says GIPT chairman Arnaud Delacour against the French media. "Only half of that volume is processed in France, the rest crosses the border. This offers opportunities for production expansion in the future." Most of these potatoes are now cut into frozen fries or processed into croquettes and other potato products in Belgium. France also imports a relatively small portion of potatoes.
It is the Belgians who are currently rapidly expanding the French fries industry among their southern neighbors. Potato giant Clarebout has been working and building a new factory in the port city of Dunkirk for years, where, according to Delacour, the baking ovens will be running at full throttle from this month. Half a million tons of potatoes can be processed there annually. It was in August known that Agristo has purchased an old sugar factory from Tereos in Northern France to produce fries there in the coming years.
Ecofrost plans new factory
Finally, on the first day of the new year, it emerged that the Walloon Ecofrost had purchased a site in Péronne across the Belgian-French border to build its second French fries factory. That writes the Belgian business newspaper De Tijd. The company from Péruwelz, located a stone's throw from the French border between Tournai and Mons, has been purchasing the site since 2022. A chip factory was previously located there, which has now closed its doors.
With this location, Ecofrost is reportedly increasing its production capacity by 200.000 tons of fries and puree, writes De Tijd. Accounting for 40% of the total production within Ecofrost, which is owned by the Hoflack and Vervaeke families. Converted to potatoes, you are talking about 400.000 to 500.000 tons of raw material.
1,5 million tons of extra potatoes
In the 2022/23 processing season, the French industry processed 1,42 million tons of potatoes into, among other things, 492.000 tons of fries. That is a record and more than 5% more than in the previous season. The proposed doubling of French fries output therefore means that another 1,5 million tons of potatoes will be required up to and including 2030. These will then be accounted for by the three companies mentioned above. Potato cultivation must in any case grow to continue to supply Belgian production locations, such as those of Aviko Potato, which has largely been processing French potatoes in Poperinge, Belgium since last season. GIPT chairman Delacour hopes that more French companies see opportunities in potato processing in his country.
Calculated with the average French hectare yield of 39,6 tons, 1,5 million tons of potatoes amounts to no less than 37.878 hectares. That is a quarter of the current area. The key question is where all those potatoes will be grown. In addition to the practical location in reasonable proximity to sea ports and availability of personnel, the potential of northern French arable farming also plays a major role for processors. It is still extensive with grains, sugar beets, alfalfa, flax and rapeseed. Potato cultivation has been on the rise for years and given the ambitions of European potato processors, this will only increase. The biggest challenge for growers is the availability of sufficient water during the growing season.
Segment shifts
What plays a role to a lesser extent is the shift between potato segments. And especially from table and starch potatoes to chip potatoes. Last season, French starch factories processed only 800.000 tons, compared to 1,11 million tons in the previous season. This is largely due to the closure of the Tereos starch factory in Haussimont and the poor harvest of 2022. Starch cultivation is expected to shrink further this season.
Apparently potato processors take into account that they can continue to achieve double growth figures for the export of fries and other potato products. In addition, they must have a firm belief in the possibilities for expanding potato production within the EU-4 in order to have sufficient raw materials. In the short term, the biggest brake is undoubtedly the shortage of seed potatoes. Increasing weather extremes also make it more difficult to maintain a good harvest year after year.
Shifting center of gravity
If all plans become reality, we will see the focus of chip potato cultivation shift to other regions within Europe. From the densely populated Netherlands and Flanders to the south of Belgium and northern France, but also, for example, the east of our country and Germany. Compared to, for example, North American potato cultivation, it still remains a fairly local cultivation where knowledge, propagation, production and sales are literally close together.