Will there be demand for new potatoes in Poland?

2021-05-10 10:57

The 2020/2021 season was one of the worst on the Polish potato market in recent years. In the chart below we compare it with the previous twelve seasons - in just three of them prices at the beginning of May were worse than now. What's more, this was the case for almost the entire season.

Now the market is on the verge of a new season and early potato growers are very hopeful, although there are also many concerns. Above all, the weather has delayed the start of this year's domestic early potato season, which has cut importers of new potatoes from Cyprus, Greece, Spain and most recently Romania more slack. Import prices start at PLN 1.60/kg at the large wholesaler, but are currently most commonly PLN 1.80-2.20/kg, with a top price of PLN 2.30/kg. In the small wholesale trade, prices reach 2.80 PLN/kg.

The market has also seen the first domestic early potatoes grown under glass. Its prices are at the level of 9.00-10.00 PLN/kg in the small wholesale trade. This is more expensive than a year ago (the average then was 7.50 PLN/kg). As mentioned above, the season is delayed and more serious quantities of domestic new potatoes are yet to appear. This has the advantage that perhaps by now the government will have begun to loosen the restrictions imposed on the HoReCa sector, which would generate much needed demand. This is what producers are hoping for. People are hungry for young domestic vegetables and at least a substitute for normality, including the opportunity to dine in restaurants and stay in hotels.

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