Regrowth and secondary growth create uncertainty in the potato market

Potatoes from the 2025 harvest are still being traded. The expectation is that these potatoes will still be processed for a few more weeks. Prices for these potatoes are around €20 per 100 kg or just above that. That means the growers who held on have still found a good market for their product.The French fries industry has fully benefited from the growers who kept holding on to their potatoes from the 2025 harvest. The manufacturers were able to neatly fill the gaps that arose because of the small harvest of early potatoes suitable for French fry production. Now that the biggest risks of a major gap in the raw material supply are behind us, buying interest is declining again.Still, not all concerns are over yet. It is unclear to what extent the rainfall is still sufficient for regrowth in the crops still standing in the field. This will mainly have to come from the later varieties, because the early varieties were already too far along in ripening. However, the rain may also cause quality problems. In Belgium, reports of secondary growth are increasing.In addition, there are growers in Belgium who, despite the reduced tonnage contracts this year, may not be able to meet their delivery obligations. Despite a call from various parties for consultation about this problem, there are no reassuring reports on this yet.For now, growers are being actively urged to communicate with their buyers. Whether that will lead to any leniency is highly uncertain. At least it does not seem likely for now. That means growers may have to incur extra costs to meet their delivery obligations. However, whether buyers will actually take it that far is not yet entirely certain.If buyers stick to those delivery obligations, that means more buying parties will become active in the market to fill the gaps. That could lead to more activity in the market and rising prices in the free market.At the moment, however, things have become somewhat quieter after the greatest needs of the French fries industry were met. That results in a relatively stable market and quotations that remain unchanged. Uncertainty for the coming period remains, however, because it is unclear how the later varieties will develop in terms of growth and quality.