Potato producers are finding it hard to find buyers following a very good harvest this year. The situation is becoming critical. The harvest was excellent but they cannot turnover their stock. Prices are collapsing, “we can easily say 15-20% less than the average” says Luc Chatelain, producer in the Pas-de-Calais.
The market is saturated due to the increase in producers and the Russian embargo. French producers need to find other buyers. “These ones, they're going to Kuwait, they are small niche markets, opportunities”, says Luc Chatelain.
They need to find buyers before the summer as the potatoes can only be kept for 8 months. Whilst a ton of potatoes used to go for €150 to €230, it has fallen to hardly even €25 today.