Right now, Spain only has availability of new potatoes in the area of Malaga and prices are high, as there is little volume because the season is just starting. In the short term, Seville and Cartagena will also begin with the harvest and prices then should normalise a little.
"The total potato acreage has grown by 2% over the past year," states Marco Martín. However, this increase in production is going to concentrate a lot in the area of Castile-Leon, and this "will have an impact at the time of harvesting and marketing the production," adds Martín. A good new potato campaign is expected until July; "from there onwards, it is difficult to make a prediction," comments the representative of Pamaral Patatas.
At the moment, the price at origin of a kilo of potatoes oscillates from 0.27 to 0.31 Euro and most of it is being brought from France to cover the needs of the market. As mentioned above, the harvest is developing slowly because the campaign is just starting and France is a large producer of these tubers.
"In fact, the neighbouring country is Spain's biggest competitor, as they have a large volume and a good storage capacity, which allows them to have product availability for longer," states Martín. In fact, Pamaral Patatas tells us that, in recent years, the potato acreage in Spain decreased precisely because of the difficulties small producers have in competing against French potatoes, which stand out for their long presence in the international market.
For more information:
Marco Martín
President of ASOPOCYL and manager of Pamaral Patatas
Pamaral Patatas
Tel.: +34 653904459