While northwest Europe is experiencing a potato glut, Australia is experiencing a shortage. With the new harvest just a few weeks away, some store shelves remain empty.
Supplies in South Australia are insufficient to bridge the gap until the new harvest. Extreme weather conditions have led to one of the worst harvests in more than a decade, reports ABC News. Drought followed by cold weather and strong winds have depressed yields. Quality has also suffered, so that part of the harvest has been unsuitable for retail sale.
The state of South Australia produces about 80% of all table potatoes in Australia. Growers and supermarkets expect shortages to persist for several weeks as the new harvest arrives. In some parts of South Australia, the first nine months of this year were drier than ever before.
Mitolo family Farms is the largest potato producer In Australia, with an annual production of over 200.000 tons of table potatoes, Head of Sales and Marketing John Tselekidis says the company has experienced a yield drop of 10% to 12%. This difference, he says, has had far-reaching negative consequences for the availability of potatoes.
Stains on potatoes
The quality of the potatoes also suffered severely from the extreme weather conditions. "Skin discoloration made some potatoes unsellable. Because of the blemishes, the potatoes don't meet retail packaging specifications."
Another major potato producer and packer in South Australia is the Pye GroupThis company says that yields have dropped by about 20% to 30% due to the drought.