European potato market is on the verge of an overproduction crisis⠀

facing significant challenges. The result? The Dutch firm DCA Market Intelligence, based in Lelystad, warns in a report that the potential overproduction of processing potatoes could push the current market further out of balance. New figures show that the EU-4 (Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands) now cultivate more than 600,000 hectares of processing potatoes, a 7.5% increase compared to last year. France leads the surge, but the other three countries are also planting at record levels. This growth is exceptionally large and stands out because a considerable portion of this additional area is being grown without contracts. Farmers, when planning crops last winter, anticipated strong demand and maximized contract options with processors. However, the open market has since collapsed, and processors have scaled back their contract volumes. With this acreage, the harvest could reach over 25 million tons based on average yields. Under ideal growing conditions, production ...