The North American sweet potato season is all but finished at Scott Farms in Poeldijk. "Some of the farms have already shut down, and we're now selling the remaining stock to fulfil existing programmes. The entire crop in North Carolina was lower, and at our farm, the decline was as much as 40 percent," says Pablo Fitskie of the Dutch sales office. "In terms of quality, it was a good season—just far too short. But unfortunately, those kinds of seasons do happen now and then."
"Egypt's season lasted longer, which turned out to be a stroke of luck this year, but now Egyptian supply is also dropping rapidly. There will still be a bit coming from South Africa, but beyond that, the supply situation is starting to look rather concerning," Pablo says. "All in all, we look back on a tough season. Contracts were completed at lower prices, and we were pretty much operating in survival mode."
Cake nicely divided in Europe
Scott Farms has invested in its own Egyptian cultivation this year. "I no longer want to rely on supplementary purchases. Exporting has only gotten easier, bringing more small exporters into the mix, but the market share in Europe is now quite evenly divided. Personally, I only believe in homegrown production."
The announced U.S. import tariffs have so far had little impact on sweet potato trade, according to Pablo. "There's a lot of speculation, but nothing definitive has been confirmed. I think it will fizzle out. In any case, the season is over for now, and the new crop won't be ready for export until December. So I'm not too concerned at this stage."
"Within Europe, I don't see much room for growth in fresh sweet potatoes. Among the sales destinations, there is some increased demand from former Eastern Bloc countries. The organic sweet potato market is still very small. Sales of purple sweet potatoes are rising slightly. Beyond that, I expect to see growth primarily in the industrial sector—processing into chips and other products, such as powders and potentially other applications."
For more information:
Pablo Fitskie
Scott Farms International
New address: ABC Westland 271
2685 DC Poeldijk
T: +31 0174 232201
M: +31 (0) 6 14688484 |
[email protected]
www.scottfarmsinternational.com