Potato Turnaround November 10, 2026 1:48 pm There has been a dramatic turnaround in the potato market between last season and this. In 2025/26, reasonable plantings and very good growing conditions helped deliver a UK crop of about five million tonnes. It was a similar story in continental Europe, where the surplus of potatoes reached five million tonnes sending prices plunging – in spring, official price quotations were zero with some growers paying to dispose of potatoes. The poor prices led to reduced planting across Europe. In the UK, a little more than 100,000 hectares of all types of potatoes were planted – down by 5% to 7% on the 2025 figure and probably the second smallest ever. The summer drought and intense heat has severely damaged yields. Scotland has fared better because it escaped the worst of the hot conditions. Growers in the east of England who were able to irrigate also protected yields to some degree. But those without irrigation or with restrictions on watering really suffered. If yields were similar to 2018 when weather patterns were much the same, then the UK has grown about 4.2 million tonnes of potatoes this year – the smallest crop ever. But it is quite possible that yields have been worse than eight years ago, and a sub-four million tonnes crop will have been grown. Within the last 20 years, crops of almost seven million tonnes have been lifted. The EU is also set to have its smallest crop on record – possibly less than 40 million tonnes – last year it was more than 55 million tonnes. Belgium and France have been particularly impacted and that will affect their processing industries. The change in supply has had an immediate impact on potato prices. Free-buy packing white potatoes are making more at least £300 per tonne, and some are above £400 per tonne, according to newsletter Potato Call. There is a similar price range for bagged frying potatoes. A year ago packing potatoes were as low as £100 per tonne and from £140 per tonne for bagged stock. There was continued pressure on values until the very end of the season when it became clear that there was going to be a shortage from the 2026 harvest. Prices in the EU are at €200 per tonne for processing potatoes – up from €15 per tonne a year ago, while fresh export potatoes are making more than €400 per tonne. Latest HMRC trade data up to August shows that frozen fry imports were down 4.0% over the year to 813,633 tonnes, with prices down 5.2% to an average of £1,206 per tonne. Exports over the year were up 8.4% to 33,345 tonnes, with a 2.1% increase in the price to £1,296 per tonne. There was also a strong start to the fresh potato export season, with imports higher too. Despite a rise in prices, growers will probably be cautious about overplanting in 2027. They will be looking for significant increases in contract prices, which fell by about 20% across Europe for the 2026/27 season. Pressure on seed supplies, rising costs of fuel and fertiliser and higher prices of alternative crops such as cereals may also limit any increase in potato area.
