The Spanish new potato season will start a little later this year due to the impact of the weather, although the sector is looking forward to the campaign and is optimistic after finding out that there will be a reduction of around 20% in the potato acreage.
In Andalusia and Cartagena, areas devoted to the production of early potatoes, the drop in the acreage is of around 25%; meanwhile, Portugal has reduced its acreage by 40%, and Cyprus and Israel have already started with prospects for a lower production than last season.
After a disastrous potato campaign, with historically low prices of around 4 Eurocent per kilo, growers have chosen to plant less potato, and some smaller growers have even abandoned the crop altogether.
"This important drop in the acreage is indeed a good sign for a sector that has suffered several consecutive seasons with bad results," explains producer and exporter Javier Boceta. "Despite the fact that we, as always, depend on the weather, we are much more optimistic about this season, since such a reduction in the acreage should lead to significant price increases," he adds.
Data on potato consumption in Spain is not encouraging. In 2014, it dropped by 2.6% in households, to a total of 1,028,000 tonnes, losing ground to other carbohydrate-rich foods.
For this reason, the Spanish potato sector has joined forces to boost potato consumption by means of promotional campaigns in supermarkets throughout the entire campaign. We look forward to this season," concludes Javier Boceta.
The export of Spanish new potatoes is expected to start from the second week of May.