The European potato market has unprecedented challenges

At the 2023 Potato Business Summit earlier this year, Cedric Porter, editor of World Potato Markets, explained how Europe has been dealing with the effects of Covid-19 over the past few years. Two new challenges have appeared: war and extreme weather conditions. These factors have contributed to the fact that Europe is growing the smallest potential crop of potatoes in recent years from the smallest cultivation area. This is reported by PotatoNewsToday. Almost 70% of potato production in Europe is in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Great Britain. These countries also dominate the manufacturing industry, with Belgium and the Netherlands leading the way. Despite the difficulties, exports of processed products, primarily frozen French fries, have recovered significantly since the pandemic. Only Belgium exported more than 3 million tons, which is half of the total volume from the top five EU countries. Interestingly, even during past global recessions, exports of french ...