FIERCE
COMPETITION AND COOLING MARKETS HIT POTATO INDUSTRY
Deep frozen fry market switches from demand to supply driven
A global double whammy, which saw potato production fluctuate and a surge in demand for end produce, meant that producers of deep frozen French fries and other potato products could profit from previously unseen margins over the last few years. This has allowed European processors in particular to increase their production capacity to record levels. Despite another challenging growing season in Europe, the forecast is that harvest 2024 will provide an ample supply to keep processing lines filled throughout the season. However, now that worldwide demand is slowly but steadily cooling down, and the competition becoming stronger, could the investments become a burden for processors?
Graph 1: Frozen French Fry Export Prices In € Per Metric Tonne
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
0
Belgium Source: DCA Market Intelligence
Netherlands
France
Germany
POWERHOUSE TAKES A HIT Potato growers in the four most important processing potato growing regions of Europe (Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands) have battled through yet another extreme growing season. Between the months of October 2023 and July 2024 over 1,350 millimetres (54”) of rainfall was recorded in key regions. A wet autumn and winter were followed-up by one of the wettest springs on record. This greatly impacted the planting season. Ware potatoes for processing are ideally planted in a six week timeframe from April to May but, this year saw farmers out in the field up until the first weeks of July. This meant that up to eight weeks of valuable growth were lost. The result of this is mostly felt by Belgian growers, which is the processing powerhouse of North-Western Europe.
4 | ADMISI - The Ghost In The Machine | Q4 Edition 2024
1-1-2020 1-4-2020 1-7-2020
1-10-2020 1-1-2021 1-4-2021 1-7-2021
1-10-2021 1-1-2022 1-4-2022 1-7-2022
1-10-2022 1-1-2023 1-4-2023 1-7-2023
1-10-2023 1-1-2024 1-4-2024 1-7-2024
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
