"Non-domestic potato consumption is down and, as a result, the industry is placing fewer orders. I estimate an across-the-board decline of 30%. I believe that every potato producer, not only Italian but European, should decrease the hectares in 2022."
This is what Matteo Zanarini of the Italian company Zanarini Agromarketing said when he presented his own analysis of the sector. "Retail cannot absorb this 30% drop in consumption due to the changed conditions caused by the pandemic. But producers, in 2022, must also face an increase in costs that, in the best case scenario, will be 20%. The first step is to reduce the surface areas in order to slightly reduce production. If every European producer were to cut 5% of their hectares, I think it would be a reasonable option".
Matteo Zanarini
Secondly, Zanarini pointed out that a "mature, constructive and concrete dialogue with retailers is needed. It is necessary to think how costs should be divided and absorbed without remaining solely on behalf of producers".
The worst case scenario hypothesized by Zanarini, if action is not taken in time, is a production surplus with a collapse in quotations and some farmers who might decide to dedicate themselves to other crops that are currently more profitable, such as cereals.
"Therefore, I believe that these two aspects are essential, that is, decreasing the surface areas at a European level, as well as establishing a concrete and professional interaction with the retail sector.”
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