The current corona crisis poses major challenges for the fries industry in Europe. Huge amounts of fries raw material have so far been looking in vain for alternative sales channels because takeaways and restaurants will remain closed for the foreseeable future. For some manufacturers of potato products, 80% of sales break down. Fries raw material rarely meets the high requirements of food retailing. Quantities that can be stored there are manageable. However, a little more could be exported to Eastern Europe and to the peeling plants. In any case, we have enough potatoes in Western Europe for the foreseeable future. So far, the starch factories have refused to dispose of fries raw materials because they fear that the starch market will collapse. In addition, the crisis came too late for the cultivation planning in 2020, because the areas under cultivation and the seeds were already prepared for growing potatoes. French fry factories are now offering bonuses to farmers if supply contracts are canceled.
Source
Hansa Terminhandel GmbH
