“I expect barely enough potatoes from Malta in coming weeks”

Yesterday morning, the first Santé potatoes from Malta arrived at potato wholesaler Altena in Veen, the Netherlands. “We have a regular harvest of Santé, but especially the Alphas are doing well. I expect a fair bit of supply of these in the next two weeks,” says Kees Schouten. Demand for early potatoes is really starting now. “The first car has arrived, and it’s just a matter of distributing them. All potatoes are immediately sold!”

The potato trader is feeling confident about a good import season. “There’s not a large supply of old potatoes left on the market. There’s always a bit of competition from other origins, such as Israel, Morocco and Egypt, although I personally think the Egyptian quality is a bit poorer. It’s always important to leave the market before Spain and Italy enter the market in force, but I think we’ll already be quite empty by then, and that we’ll have barely enough supply for the first six weeks.”

“You can never be 100 per cent certain in potatoes, although it’s always the case that good weather is an advantage for the earlies. Last week, everyone started calling when the temperatures were high. They immediately think of Malta’s!”