Potato processor hits the brakes hard in February

The Dutch potato industry processed 275,400 tonnes of potatoes in February. This amount is slightly smaller than the small quantity that rolled off the processing lines in January. In January, the supply to the factories was 16% lower than in the first month of 2025, as can be deduced from figures from the industry organization Vavi. February is not much better with a negative difference of 14%. In the first six months of this season, 1.78 million tonnes of potatoes were processed. That was just under 100,000 tonnes less than in the same period of the 2024/25 season. In percentage terms, this difference is 5%. In January and February, the difference with last season is just as large as in the six months prior. In January, the supply to the factories was 54,000 tonnes smaller, and in February, the difference was 45,000 tonnes. The total processing since July last year amounts to 2.34 million tonnes. This is almost 200,000 tonnes or 8% less than in the same period last year. From Dutch soil, 1.3 million tonnes were processed. This amount is 62,800 tonnes or 4.5% smaller than in the 2024/25 season. The supply of imported potatoes has decreased by 134,400 tonnes or 11.5% to just above 1 million tonnes. Although the supply of potatoes has been reduced by 8%, manufacturers managed to limit the decline in final potato product to about 4.5%. For pre-fried products, including fries, the decline is 6%, while for other potato products, there is even an increase of 4%.