The past three weeks have shown some upward movement to the potato price, says FP Coetzee of PotatoesSA: the stirrings of a strengthening but not yet getting it over the line into comfortable territory. The impact of summer rainfall on quality and the marketable portion of the crop could be a slight reversal of the deflationary cycle.
In terms of volumes and price levels, it's been a very similar year to 2022, Coetzee remarks, which was then followed by two years of constrained supply and expensive potatoes.
© Carolize Jansen | FreshPlaza.comPotatoes at the Johannesburg municipal market
In March and April 2025, considering the losses they'd incurred due to black frost the previous winter, Limpopo potato farmers planted 2,000 hectares more. They already produce on average 52 million 10kg bags of potatoes per year. It all came unscathed through winter, and a huge crop was lifted while a delayed eastern Free State crop remained on the market for three weeks to a month longer, he explains.
The result was a serious case of oversupply, and the current wholesale price for a 10kg bag is on average between R48 (€2.4) and R51 (€2.58) and just under R40 (€2) for a 7kg bag. Potatoes cost roughly half what they did last year, putting pressure on profit margins.
"It's a very difficult potato season for Limpopo and Sandveld potato farmers," he remarks. Those potato farmers are lifting and trucking potatoes at a big loss.
Over the past two months, says a fresh produce buyer from a major retailer, he'd hazard to venture that not a single potato was lifted and sold at breakeven point in South Africa.
Retailers report higher sales volumes (but not turnover)
The only winner in the current scenario is the consumer - or so it should be, Coetzee remarks. While some retailers are continually running specials on potatoes (and all other vegetables, with the exception of butternuts and pumpkins), some have taken a chilly stance: he saw one store selling a 10kg bag of potatoes for R200 (€10) while the potato price was at its nadir of R3.30 (€0.16) per kilogram.
Retailers running specials - the right thing to do at the moment, he feels - report higher volumes sold but not approximating the turnover of the past two years. "This is a year to use opportunities wisely to enlarge your market share," Coetzee maintains. "At current prices, and looking at the amount of potatoes sold, one can assume that there are people who didn't buy potatoes before who are now buying them because they can afford it."
© Carolize Jansen | FreshPlaza.comRetailers are running promotions on potatoes at the moment
The potato industry body is in conversation with the Gauteng provincial government to stimulate a bigger use of specifically baby potatoes in government school feeding schemes.
Over the past months, Potatoes SA introduced potatoes to the school meals offered at five Gauteng schools, and were told that more learners attended meals when potatoes were served (often with pilchards or soya mince, or mashed) and demonstrated better concentration and focus in the classroom afterwards.
For more information:
FP Coetzee
PotatoesSA
Tel: +27 71 606 9675
Email: [email protected]
https://www.potatoes.co.za/
