According to forecasts, the French potato sector will have its lowest harvest in decades due to drought and extreme heat. In fact, there is great concern among producers as the volume harvested and marketed may not cover production costs.
However, the French potato inter-branch organization (CNIPT) has stressed that France wasn't the only country that was going to have a reduction in production because of the drought. At the moment, French exports are being directed to their regular customers (Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, etc.), the CNIPT stated in its latest bulletin. "However, this year, most European neighbors, which have also been affected by the fall in yields, could look for potatoes for consumption outside their borders at the very beginning of the campaign to complement their offer and mitigate the price increase triggered by this potential decrease in harvests," they stated.
Likewise, the industries could buy more products in the free market to compensate for a probable drop in the volumes committed in the contracts, especially if the demand increases this year because of the World Cup, they added.
France is working on the distribution of value along the food chain, just like Spain. In the potato sector, the CNIPT has called for the construction of the price for each link, along the chain, with cascading indicators and contracts adapted to different levels.
Source: cnipt.fr / agrodigital.com