Wholesale prices of potatoes remain in a volatile equilibrium.
The prices of potatoes in the Polish wholesale market have stabilized, although this balance is quite fragile. After the recent heavy rains in many parts of the country, potato harvesting had to be interrupted. The prices of these vegetables in the national wholesale market reacted with a slight strengthening. Currently, the prices of bagged potatoes in the wholesale market are at the levels of 0.65-1.00 PLN/kg (0.15-0.23 EUR/kg) for yellow varieties, 0.67-1.07 PLN/kg (0.16-0.25 EUR/kg) for red varieties, and 1.00-1.50 PLN/kg (0.23-0.35 EUR/kg) for white varieties. The prices of white potatoes did not decrease earlier and have not strengthened now.
Therefore, we do not have a hundred percent stabilization, but rather price fluctuations, albeit without a clear trend. Weather is a key factor in these fluctuations. Market participants are fairly unanimous that the recent downpours and the problems they caused in the potato fields will not lead to a lasting increase in prices. In a moment (of course, unless there is again rainfall of 80-100 liters per square meter), the dominant factor will again be the seasonal increase in supply resulting from the developing harvesting campaign.
This could once again build greater pressure on potato prices, as we saw in the first half of August. However, it seems that we are heading towards a year in which, roughly speaking, the harvest will not be record-breaking. It will likely be higher than the disastrous harvest of last year, but what matters is not only the volume harvested but also what will happen to it afterwards. Many market participants point out that in the 2024/2025 season, significant problems with storing potatoes and significant losses – both in quantity and quality – should be expected.
When will this factor kick in and potato prices start to improve? Probably not anytime soon. For now, we have the harvest, and if the weather calms down, we should expect a return of the above-mentioned downward pressure. As seen on the chart, this would be a very unfavorable development, as prices are already quite low (-5 percent below the five-year average).