The organic potato market remains stable

At the tail end of the storage season, the market can sometimes make strange jumps. With the competition from new harvest and imported potatoes, this is not always positive for the storage grower, but just like last season, a plus can sometimes be achieved. That also seems to be the case this season. Demand is holding up well, says an insider, and although there is competition from fresh harvest, the supply is not too bad. Germany in particular is taking a large part of that supply, which means that there remains a market for the potatoes from the 2023 harvest. It is difficult to put your finger on it exactly, but what probably also plays a role is that 'own' product. is more preferred than imports from outside Europe.

The new growing season is also not going smoothly in Western Europe due to the wetness. It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that it will have a clear effect on the market for the 2023 harvest, according to an insider, but it does help somewhat. Looking only at the Netherlands, the area of ​​organic table potatoes is expected to remain stable this year. "There is some expansion, but at the same time growers are also stopping organic potato cultivation. I expect the area to remain relatively the same, perhaps a minimal increase," says an insider.

Due to the small number of transactions, it is difficult to arrive at an indicative price. The DCA indicative price for organic table potatoes increased slightly this week and averaged around €69 per 100 kilos. Lower quality lots sell for an average of around €63 per 100 kilos and popular varieties of very good quality are sold for up to €75 per 100 kilos.

Sales of organic yellow onions remain reasonably stable for this time of the season. Several European countries have decreased recently and permanent work in the Netherlands also continues. At this time of season it is not surprising that quality is the talk of the town. This will be the case again this year, which will require extra work for the sorters. Free trade is almost complete in organic onions and what remains to be handled has already been recorded earlier. That is why it is difficult to arrive at a correct indicative price. In addition, the sales channel also influences the price, which also has different price ranges. The DCA Indication Price for organic yellow onions remains the same and amounts to €72 to €85 per 100 kilos. The fine size selection and lower quality are at the bottom of the range. The rough size sorting is at the top of the mentioned bandwidth.

Because the end of the storage season is approaching and the trade is almost over, these will be the last indicative prices for organic yellow onions and the table potato market. Boerenbusiness will resume the indicative prices in the autumn when the harvest of these products is about to start.