In a competitive market, a price is determined by the interplay of supply and demand. That's at least one of the basic principles of economics they once tried to teach us. In the French fry market, this theory didn't seem to hold water in recent months. In fact, a lower price actually seemed to stimulate demand. Looking at the latest processing figures, that's changing.
The potato processing figures for June were released a little later than usual due to the holidays. According to figures from the Association for the Potato Processing Industry (Vavi), 306.900 tons of potatoes were processed last month. This is considerably lower than last June, when 324.500 tons were processed. The five-year average for this month is 327.340 tons. The share of potatoes from abroad was 45,9%. In absolute terms, this amounts to 141.000 tons.
In June, 135.400 tons of pre-fried fries and 27.400 tons of other products were produced. This represents a processing yield of 53%. This is good, but not spectacular, for this time of year, especially considering that processors are quite critical of the quality of the potatoes they supply.