“It’s difficult to find good quality potatoes at the moment. For some batches, quality declines fairly rapidly. The crops are already showing some pressure spots. Because of the warm and dry weather, the potatoes are further advanced than they would normally be,” says Jens Verstraete of Warnez Potatoes. “The potatoes have high prices on the free market, but we can’t complain about demand, in part thanks to the low temperatures of recent weeks.”
To guarantee customers a qualitatively good product, Warnez Potatoes is conducting a lot of quality inspections this year. “We take a lot of samples of different batches, and we check to see which batch has the best storability, so we store those longest. We’re very selective in that, and we just have to plan more carefully this year, although a good observance is important,” Jens continues. “Yet it looks as if we’ll have plenty of product up to the end of the season.”
Storage warehouse
“To continue optimising quality in the future, we’re investing in a new storage warehouse. The latest technologies are used for this, so that the impact on the environment is minimised,” Jens says.
Specialities
“Besides the consumption potatoes, we also have some specialities in our assortment, such as red-fleshed and purple-fleshed varieties. These are more likely to remain niche products, demand for these varieties is fairly limited, but stable. Demand for sweet potatoes is on the rise, however. In recent years, we’ve seen a considerable rise in demand, but also in supply, and it looks as if the popularity of sweet potatoes will continue for now,” Jens concludes.
For more information:
Jens Verstraete
Warnez Potatoes
Marialoopsesteenweg 2L
B-8700 – Tielt - Belgium
T: +31 051 40 08 12
info@warnezpotatoes.be
www.warnezpotatoes.be