The harvest of new potatoes is gaining momentum in more and more countries. In the Netherlands, the early potato auction Alvantho on Tholen has been running for more than a week. In Germany the primeur season is already in full swing. The difficult conditions in the country, combined with high prices for the old harvest, allow the new potatoes to maintain their high price level.
On Tuesday, June 11, the Alvantho auction clock in Sint-Annaland ran for the first time this potato season. Even though planting did not take place particularly early, and most plots were not covered with plastic, new potatoes still appeared on time. The first crops could be harvested at the end of May, but heavy rainfall on the Zeeland island threw a spanner in the works.
High prices at the clock
The first price achieved for Frieslander was €110 to €120 per 100 kilos. That was €85 to €106 a year earlier. Doré came in at €142 to €162 (2023: €100 to €110) and Eigenheimer took the cake with €194. That was a maximum of €170,40 last year. An increase of 14%.
In the Netherlands, the last remnants of old harvest table potatoes are also traded. The regional stock exchanges stopped listing at the end of May. PotatoNL still makes an export quotation 40mm upwards. This remained just below the chip potato quotation for almost the entire season, but has now reached the same price level of €60. A good comparison is difficult to make. Last year the last listing was made on May 1.
The new season has also started with higher prices at our eastern neighbors than a year earlier. Reka Rheinland is trading at €21 to €83 on Friday, June 85, in the early Rhineland-Palatinate growing region. In Lower Saxony that is €83. That is almost the same as a year earlier, when the price was €82 to €84. German growers and buyers are satisfied with the demand from the market. The first skin-resistant early potatoes have been harvested and packaged since this week. Due to good market demand, plots are harvested quickly.
Flood damage
The heavy rainfall in combination with temperature creates a high disease pressure. Precipitation throws a spanner in the works for harvesting potatoes regionally, although many growers were able to take advantage of a slightly drier week to start harvesting. Potato growers in Bavaria are assessing the damage after all the flooding in May. This will cost the state a total of €2 billion, the German Association for Insurers calculated.
Damage to potato crops varies and depends on the growing region. Insiders think that around 4.000 hectares of potatoes have been lost.
In France, the table potato market is in a transition phase at the end of June. The last remnants of the old harvest are packed. Growers' storage areas are empty and finally all the seed potatoes are in the ground, reports growers' organization UNPT. The delivery of new potatoes is getting off to a somewhat slow start. Grabbing is taking place along the coast in the south-west of the country, but the yields are disappointing in many places. The high phytophthora pressure is also problematic here.
Record sales in France
Thanks to the quiet start and good sales, high price levels are also expected in France. Export figures show that 282.000 tons of table and chip potatoes were exported in April. That is a fifth more than a year earlier. The season totals 2,08 million tons. That is 8% more than a season earlier. The imported quantity of potatoes has also increased this season. Until April this volume amounted to 300.000 tons. Half of this comes from Belgium and is destined for the chip factories in Northern France. The Netherlands is also an important potato supplier.
In Poland, the early potato harvest started extremely early this year. A combination of an early planting date, warm and dry weather caused this. Due to increasing imports, market prices fell by almost 40% at the beginning of June to the equivalent of €45 per 100 kilos. Poland has now also received a lot of local rainfall and the disease pressure is high. Prices have therefore risen somewhat, to a maximum of €58.
Early fries potatoes
The first chip potatoes from Northwestern Europe normally arrive in the first half of July. Some factories are already serving new harvests from, for example, France (the Bordeaux region) before then. This is reportedly not easy this year due to the later planting date and late night frost in this part of France. That is why even French fries potatoes from Egypt are now being processed, insiders report. Potatoes have also been brought from Central Europe. Whether the transport costs make this possible is a calculation for the processors. With free market prices of €70 or more, this is becoming increasingly attractive.
It is difficult to determine exactly how many potatoes still need to be planted in the EU-4. Work has been completed in Germany and France. In the Netherlands this is not the case in the South of the Netherlands case. Planting is taking place piecemeal, but regionally heavy showers are once again throwing a spanner in the works. However, much of the backlog has been made up and buyers continue to emphasize that every (seed) potato must be planted this season.
Planted everything in July?
In Belgium, according to Viaverda (formerly PCA), planting has not yet been completed. Some catching up was made last week, but showers also threw a spanner in the works here. Aviko Potato has not published any recent figures, but after week 23 the counter was no less than 40% (!) still to be planted in Belgium and just under 20% in the Netherlands. Given the improved weather forecasts for the last week of June, part of this area can be planted this month, provided you are spared the heavy showers. It remains to be seen whether the remainder will still be planted after July 1.
Fiwap says it expects the first new harvest at the beginning of July. A small portion could be planted early and harvested in time. There are also some early potatoes, for example Zorba, that were only planted in mid-June. On both sides of the border. This will create enormous heterogeneity in the crops this harvest year. The 2023-2024 season started with an almost identical price level to the end of the old season. There is once again a good chance that there will be a repeat this year. How the price holds up in the longer term largely depends on growing conditions and how the factories act. It is clear that the difficult start will haunt the sector throughout the season.