On February 5th, in a press release, the National Union of French Potato Producers (UNPT) referred to one of the "most economically difficult" campaigns for producers. The reason for this is a significant drop (up to -20%) in contracted volumes per hectare. "The contract announcements made over the past few days for the 2026-2027 season have plunged growers into a deep and lasting economic crisis," claims the organization.
Contract structures that allow producers to fall back on the free market
UNPT is denouncing a worrying drift away from contractualization. In its view, this situation is exacerbated by the "structure of certain contracts," which are designed to offer manufacturers a way out onto the free market as soon as the economic climate turns against producers. It also stresses that "the current slowdown on the processing market (fries) is primarily due to an economic context resulting from industrial expectations that have not been borne out, with producers now bearing the brunt of the consequences."
For several months now, however, UNPT has been calling for contractual arrangements to be strengthened and made more secure in order to avoid "a massive and disorganized transfer of volumes to the free market."
Contract prices below production costs
UNPT also notes that the contract prices proposed are well "below production costs for the committed part, with levels announced 25% lower than in the previous campaign, even though production costs have not decreased." These prices "transfer the entire economic risk to producers. These unbalanced practices are dragging down all crops: fresh produce and starch, for which the increase in coupled aid this year can under no circumstances be used as an adjustment variable to compensate for inadequate price levels."
Faced with what it describes as a structural asymmetry of risk, which weighs mainly on production, UNPT is calling on producers to be vigilant in their individual planting decisions. "In a context where the combination of price levels and contractual volumes on offer can no longer ensure that production costs are covered, each grower is invited to rigorously assess the size of their areas, in the light of the volumes actually allocated, the associated quality requirements and the real economic viability of these commitments."
For more information:
UNPT
unpt.fr
