Overview
- Farmers are receiving roughly €10 per 100 kilograms while supermarket prices often exceed €1.50 per kilogram, a 10–15-fold gap cited by AMI.
- Germany’s potato area expanded nearly 7% last year to just over 300,000 hectares and this year’s harvest increased by more than 5%, according to Unika.
- Potatoes are grown by specific use and many processing volumes are contracted the prior year, leaving non-contracted stocks with few buyers.
- Export demand has softened as China and India step up in the frozen-fries market and a strong euro dampens sales of European product.
- Excess potatoes are being diverted to biogas plants or used as animal feed, with unharvested fields characterized by industry sources as isolated cases.