The Dutch potato industry is processing the smallest amount of potatoes in fifteen years. It's striking that the supply of imported potatoes in October is at its highest level ever.
In October, factories processed 165.800 tons of imported potatoes, according to figures from the Potato Processing Industry Association (Vavi). This quantity is slightly higher than the previous October record of 164.200 tons in 2024.
However, total processing last month stalled at 313.900 tons. Slightly more than half of the processing consisted of imported potatoes. Consequently, the reduction in processing capacity came at the expense of the supply of Dutch potatoes to the factory.
Processors even bought out contracts last month because they didn't need the potatoes. Disappointing sales have prompted manufacturers to regularly shut down production lines to align production as much as possible with the sale of finished products.
Cold storage rooms chock full
Producing to stock is currently out of the question. Cold stores are still overflowing. That's why manufacturers say they can't take advantage of the extremely low prices for free-range potatoes. They prefer to pass on potatoes delivered along with the contracted quantities, because every extra potato leads to a surplus of finished product.
The processing of Dutch potatoes in October thus remained at 148.100 tons. This quantity is 31.600 tons (18%) lower than in the same month last year. The peak in the processing of Dutch potatoes in October 2019 was more than 100.000 tons higher at 251.700 tons. In the intervening years, an average of 212.300 tons of Dutch potatoes were processed in that month.
Potato processing in October was 9% lower overall than in the same month last year. End product production decreased by only 2,6% due to improved yields. Because more potato products were produced in September, total production in the past three months was even slightly higher than last year. Potato processing decreased by 4% during that period.