Potatoes have varying prices.
The potato season 2024/2025 in Poland has entered another phase. The harvest of these vegetables is already finishing, hence the current supply of potatoes for immediate sale is decreasing. A significant part of these volumes consisted of lower quality tubers offered at low prices. This has an impact on the wholesale market prices. Additionally, there is a higher demand for Polish potatoes in export in the current season.
What is the impact on wholesale potato prices? In typical seasons, this leads to stabilization. And in the near future, we can also expect such stabilization. But this year, with low yields and better demand, there is a good chance that potato prices will strengthen slightly before the end of the calendar year.
A slight upward trend in average wholesale potato prices has already emerged. Currently, prices for yellow and red varieties range from 0.67-1.10 PLN/kg. The upper limit applies to potatoes intended for export. Export-grade potatoes with a caliber of 50+ are already priced at 1.20 PLN/kg. On average, these prices have recently increased by just over 2 percent. White variety potatoes have remained in the price range of 0.93-1.50 PLN/kg.
As the harvest comes to an end, it can be expected that the lower price range will also be slightly raised. This will also be facilitated by the outflow of better quality tubers abroad. This will create more space on the domestic market and reduce price competition. Of course, it should be remembered that the export of fresh potatoes from Poland is not in huge quantities even in good years. Nevertheless, it does have an impact on the domestic market.
It should be added that in neighboring Ukraine, potato prices have been steadily increasing since the last decade of September this year. The average price at the end of last week was already 0.61 USD/kg (compared to 0.25 USD/kg a year ago). It seems that Ukraine will start importing potatoes very early this season. In Moldova, the average price also remains higher year-on-year, with it being 0.44 USD/kg at the end of last week (compared to 0.39 USD/kg a year ago). Potato price data for Ukraine and Moldova can be found at east-fruit.com.