“We have customers who propose indecent prices, between zero and 15 euros per ton.” A major sector of France has achieved huge production but that created problems

The potato harvest in France could reach “8.5 million tonnes” in 2025, an “unprecedented level in the last ten years”, which leads to lower prices, warned the National Union of Producers (UNPT), according to AFP.

Given the conditions of the autumn potatoes, UNPT estimates that the production will be 10% higher than last year, with 900,000 extra tons.

These potatoes, also called “preservation”, are consumed fresh or intended for industrial transformation to obtain puree, chips or potatoes and are almost the entire production. “Early” potatoes “or new potatoes (with thin bark, harvested before full maturity) represents on average 50,000 tons per year.

The big harvest is not a surprise but comes with problems

This increase in volumes “is not a surprise”: “It is directly related to the growth of the surfaces, which reached 197,000 hectares in 2025, increasing by 10.3% compared to last year,” said Alain Dequeker, the Secretary General of the UNPT.

“This growth is common to the big producing countries in northern Europe: together, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have registered an increase in areas cultivated by 55,000 hectares,” he stressed.

However, recalls the farmer, for more than an UNPT year warns on “the risks of a production volume that exceeds the real market capacity”.

Autumn potatoes are almost the entire production, of which about half is intended for industry, either in France (21% of production) or abroad.

“We have customers who propose indecent prices”

The abundance that is announced will affect the producers in France, the first world exporter of potatoes: “We have both a crisis, too abundant and industrial demand, which weakens,” explained Alain Dequeker.

In France, about 80% of the volume purchased by the industry is contracted, which guarantees the farmer a price negotiated in advance for most of his production.

The current price of the potato ton is “around 180 euros” at “Exit from the field” (immediately after harvesting) and can reach up to about 230 euros/t, taking into account the storage and preservation costs for potatoes delivered later during the year.

“The most affected will be the farmers who have concluded few contracts” or who “produced more this year”, without contracts, encouraged by the requests of certain industrials who, in the end, do not buy, explained the farmer.

“Today, we see industrial customers who propose indecent prices, between zero and 15 euros per ton. We tell farmers not to sell at these prices, which are equivalent to working at a loss,” he added.

Photo: © Lukasz Wasak | Dreamstime.com