The European potato market is under severe pressure this year. The EU potato area is increasing by no less than 77,000 hectares (+5.5%) to a total of 1.47 million hectares - the strongest growth in years. This sharp expansion comes at a time when European exports of French fries and other frozen potato products are facing significant challenges. The result? The Dutch firm DCA Market Intelligence, based in Lelystad, warns that the potential overproduction of processing potatoes could push the current market further out of balance.