Japan is not immediately known as a potato country. However, the American National Potato Council (NPC) estimates that there is a large untapped market for American table potatoes. One problem: for phytosanitary reasons, hardly any unprocessed potatoes are allowed into the country. The American Department of Agriculture, in consultation with its Japanese counterpart, hopes to change this during a meeting in the American potato capital of Idaho Falls this week.
After Mexico and Canada, Japan was the largest buyer of fresh potatoes according to the NPC data. Those potatoes are processed into chips in Japan. Since 2006, the US is the only country that is allowed to export chips potatoes to Japan. Japan keeps the border closed for table potatoes.
"Full access to the Japanese market for U.S. fresh potatoes has been a major focus of the potato industry for at least two decades," NPC Executive Director Kam Quarles said in a statement. "Japan continues to delay and delay negotiations on this issue. The U.S. potato industry urges our USDA partners to demand that Japan meet its international obligations."
growth potential
According to the association, $150 to $200 million worth of table potatoes could be exported to Japan annually. Frozen potato products are allowed to go to Japan. In 2023, 248.000 tons of frozen potato products went from the US to Japan. This made Japan the largest buyer for the US. In comparison, the EU is in second place as the largest supplier to Japan with 97.000 tons, mainly from Belgium and the Netherlands.
Potato cultivation in Japan is relatively small-scale. In 2020, just over 20% of Japanese growers had more than 10 hectares of potatoes. In total, potatoes were grown on 72.000 hectares that year. The harvest amounted to 2,2 million tons. Until 1990, the Japanese potato area was over 120.000 hectares. Since then, the area has shown a steady decline.