Despite pauses in the factory, more imports processed

The Dutch potato industry processes the smallest amount of potatoes in fifteen years. Notably, the supply of imported potatoes in October is at the highest level ever for that month. In October, factories processed 165,800 tons of imported potatoes, according to figures from the Association for the Potato Processing Industry (Vavi). This amount is slightly larger than the previous October record of 164,200 tons in 2024. The total processing last month, however, was stuck at 313,900 tons. Just over half of the processing therefore consisted of imported potatoes. The reduction in processing capacity came at the expense of the supply of Dutch potatoes to the factories. Processors even bought out contracts last month because they did not need those potatoes. A disappointing sales performance has led manufacturers to regularly stop production lines, thus adjusting production as much as possible to the sales of end products. Cold stores packed Production on stock is not an option now. The cold stores are still packed. Therefore, manufacturers also say they cannot take advantage of the extremely low prices for free potatoes. They prefer to pass on additional potatoes with contracted quantities, as every extra potato leads to surpluses of end products. The processing of Dutch potatoes remained at 148,100 tons in October. This amount is 31,600 tons (18%) smaller than in the same month last year. The peak in the processing of Dutch potatoes in October 2019 was more than 100,000 tons higher at 251,700 tons. In the intervening years, an average of 212,300 tons of Dutch potatoes was processed in that month. The potato processing in October is overall 9% smaller than in the same month last year. The production of end products has only decreased by 2.6% due to better yield. Because more potato products were made in September, the total production over the past three months is even a fraction larger than last year. Potato processing has decreased by 4% during that period.