Predicting how a campaign will develop and the behavior of demand has always been a great challenge. Now, due to the pandemic and its intermittent waves of infections and restrictions, this challenge is even greater. We just have to remember the situation that the potato industry experienced in Europe last year due to the coronavirus and the closure of the Horeca channel, which even led the sector to propose a generalized reduction in acreage. A producer's success can also depend on choosing the appropriate seed, especially in periods of market uncertainty.
"At the moment we're selling seed potatoes for the early areas of Cartagena, Andalusia, the Valencian Community, and the Balearic Islands," stated Rogelio Marti, from HZPC, a Dutch company that specializes in plant breeding and commercialization of seed potatoes. "This year, Spain's potato sector is facing two additional problems. The south is experiencing a drought that will reduce the potato planting area, and in the north, the potato for consumption campaign wasn't as good as expected. The quality of the production was good but prices at origin were very low. Consequently, we also expect there will be a decrease in hectares planted compared to last year.”
"Our top variety in Spain is Colomba, a potato variety that is destined for supermarkets and that has a high demand for its washing quality. We also sell other premium yellow varieties such as Lucinda and Ambra. The Memphis is an outstanding red variety, the Innovator is the leading variety to make French fries in Europe,” stated Rogelio (Right photo). "Colored potatoes are a niche market, but the Violet Queen purple variety stands out among them."
It's not the only outstanding variety. HZPC markets 900,000 tons of seed potatoes from an extensive catalog of varieties at a global level and has a presence in more than 90 countries. HZPC has more than 100 test centers around the world, where its team of plant breeding professionals develops varieties optimized for the local growing conditions of the countries where the company operates meeting the expectations of different markets. This year HZPC has launched two novelties for the Spanish market, Cayman and Taisiya, which were presented to professionals in the sector at the recent Fruit Attraction 2021 fair.
Cayman.
“The Cayman variety belongs to the fried/washed potato for supermarket segment, while the Taisiya variety is ideal for the potato for boiling segment. We started to introduce them this year and we have already noticed that producers are interested in knowing and trying them out.”
Taisiya.
Both varieties are the result of a selection, improvement, and trial process that lasted almost a decade. This guarantees their quality, suitability for cultivation in Spain, and that they respond to the demands of both consumers and farmers, Rogelio Marti stated. "Spanish producers are looking for resistant varieties that have a good performance and are versatile, i.e. that are good for frying or washing. Cayman and Taisiya respond to that demand.”
For more information:
Rogelio Martí
Patatas HZPC España S.L.
Avenida Santa Apolonia 39
46901 Torrent, Valencia (España)
Tel.: +34 961 589 551
espana@hzpc.com
www.hzpc.com