Aviko has expanded its processing capacity for French fries potatoes throughout Europe, or is in the process of doing so. That is why the processor is looking for more potatoes in its purchasing regions for the 2025 harvest year. Aviko is keeping the prices in the fixed price contract the same for this year. 'Continuity was deliberately chosen', says director Dick Zelhorst.
Last harvest year, Aviko increased its contract prices in response to the sharply increased cost price. For the 2025/26 season, the processor will continue to maintain this price level. The company hopes to secure more volume next year. This is necessary to utilise the additional processing capacity at home and abroad. In Poland – where the company has a joint venture with Farm Frites – expansion is taking place again. In Poperinge, Belgium, more is also being extracted from the existing lines. Incidentally, Aviko is also significantly increasing its production capacity in China.
The contract prices remain unchanged during all delivery periods. For Fontane (A segment) this means a price level of €175 (ex-land), €268 (week 17) and €295 (week 26) per tonne. For Innovator (AAA segment) this amounts to €195, €288 and €315 in the three respective periods.
More expensive seed potatoes
According to Aviko, it has sufficient seed potatoes available for the factories' needs this year. Availability, both in terms of varieties and size sorting, is sufficient. However, the company is forced to increase prices. "Last year, we only implemented a limited price increase because we could fall back on multi-year agreements with the seed potato houses," Zelhorst explains. "The majority of these multi-year contracts expired this year, which means we cannot avoid higher sales prices."
As the first processor this year, Aviko has chosen not to change the prices in the off-land segment. The company sees no reason for this. Zelhorst: "In addition to the fixed price contracts, we of course have our off-land and storage pool, but don't forget the futures market contract (click contract)." The director finds the increase in turnover that has been achieved on the futures market in recent months positive. However, the volume to be traded must increase further.
Cost price
Shouldn't contract prices increase again this year, given the increasing cost price and greater risks? That is what potato growers are advocating and what lobby groups VTA, NAV and POC also say. Zelhorst: "In the past, Aviko introduced the cost index contract, in which the cost price development serves as a guideline for the contract price. With the strong increases in recent years, we saw that the contract was lagging behind reality. This despite an additional premium. We have therefore chosen to pause this contract. This may change in the future. The tricky thing is that the land costs in particular differ enormously between the individual companies, which means that you cannot speak of a single cost price."
Global market
According to the processor, he has no complaints about the sales of end products, but Aviko does notice that global sales from the EU have declined. "In addition to lower sales, there are two other important developments," Zelhorst notes. "On the one hand, processing capacity is increasing worldwide, with new factories in South America and Asia. In addition to supplying internal markets, they are sometimes also competitive in the export market. You see that in Asia, but also in Egypt, for example. That country is producing more and more fries."
Despite these challenges, the CEO remains positive about the future of the EU potato sector. "In North-West Europe, we are in a unique location that offers many advantages in terms of cultivation, processing and export. The demand for products is still increasing across the board."