"More potatoes than ever for the cows"

Tholen - No price upswing appears to be expected in the potato market. "I expect little to change. In the market there is an overall feeling that there are plenty of potatoes and that is why I don't see prices recovering in the short term, in the way onions did. Potatoes can be kept in storage for very long. Never so many potatoes have gone to the cows and this is currently unlikely to change," explains Bram Werkman, of the potato wholesaler Landjuweel.

"The quality of the old harvest is very diverse. The potatoes are ageing faster. There are good batches and certainly quality potatoes on the shelves, but there is significantly more lower quality," continues Bram. "This will be a season to forget, and it seems that the new campaign will be marked by different circumstances. Fewer early potatoes have been planted and import volumes will be lower to boost demand for new potatoes. Last year, the season started extremely early, but now I expect a normal start. "

One positive point, according to the potato wholesaler, is that consumers this year consumed a lot of potatoes. "Consumption levels in the Netherlands, in any case, have not dropped and definitely show a positive trend."