Production control of French fries potatoes in the EU has little effect on grower price

Producing less does not necessarily mean that the price will increase accordingly. If fewer French fries potatoes were produced in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France, this would not result in a better grower's price. This is the conclusion drawn by researchers from Wageningen University & Research after research commissioned by the Producers' Organisation for Consumer Potatoes (POC). The researchers state that reducing the supply in the Netherlands alone results in a net loss of turnover because the price increases less quickly than the reduction in supply. This mechanism also applies if a broader view is taken of the supply in the most important potato-producing countries in the European Union, the EU4 (the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France). "The reason for this is that a higher price attracts production and supply from elsewhere. As a result, the effects of the reduction in supply leak away," says researcher Maarten Kik. "In our research, we found that reducing ...