The chairman of the Federal Association of German Starch Potato Producers, Hans-Wilhelm Giere, is calling for higher prices for starch potatoes due to increasing operating costs and stable payment prices despite rising production costs. He believes that without profitable production, the quality of starch potatoes will suffer and they will lose their place in crop rotation. Giere also emphasized the need for increases in the sales level of potato-derived products, which currently make up over half of which are sold to the food sector, due to rising costs in energy, fuel, fertilizer, crop protection, technology, and logistics.