The French potato specialities season is in full swing. "In southern France they have now finished harvesting, the main harvest in central and northern France is still in full swing," says Paul-Wouter den Ouden. "However, yields are a bit disappointing. They seemed to be a lot higher than in the past two years, when prices were gigantic because of the shortages, but this year too there has been quite a lot of downtime due to bad weather, so yields have still not been as high as hoped."
"Currently, there is sufficient supply, but towards the end of the season, shortages are expected. Whether this will lead to a market situation like the past two years remains to be seen. Last year, prices were from 15 to 20 euros per box and those prices are now between 8 and 10 euros per box. In the coming weeks I see the price going down rather than up, but if towards the end of the year or early next year supplies in other areas dry up, I do foresee a price rise again."
French potato specialities are in eager demand, but Paul-Wouter says this is mainly the case outside the Netherlands. "Eastern Europeans, for instance, love them. Furthermore, we serve many Dutch exporters who transport the potatoes by air to clients in the catering segment in distant destinations. So all in all, it's a decent market, but within the Netherlands, the market for specialities remains relatively small. Here, fries potatoes are mainly consumed and specialities have never gained that much of a foothold."
Within the specialities range, the bantam potatoes are the runners-up at Rola Fresh. "Agata is the main variety, but we also carry slightly more luxurious varieties such as Amandine and Jazzy in a more upmarket look," Paul-Wouter says. He views the future for sales of French specialities with confidence. "Only when the economy is down a bit, sales may occasionally dip, but over the long term there is a healthy market and I also think there is still more stretch in the sales of these specialities than the standard bag of potatoes we buy in the Netherlands."
Source: freshplaza.com
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