Overview, baby potatoes, Western Europe

Demand for baby potatoes this year seems to be slow, despite the perceived reduction in the quantity (and quality) of small potatoes this year. The number of tubers that were initiated during the early stages of crop development was relatively low, in general. This was followed by a period of ideal growing conditions, such that yields were high. The end result was an overproduction of bakers, and a related shortfall in the quantity of small potatoes (babies, grenailles, salads, mids etc) and a possible reduction in the availability of potatoes of pre-pack size (approx 45-65mm).

You'd have thought that this would have caused some excitement in the "baby potato" market. But demand is slow, and prices remain flat. Will this lack of interest continue after Christmas? That is difficult to tell, because demand usually tails off for a few weeks in January. But on the other hand, it really does seem that the supply-side will dwindle even more. Many French maincrop potato farmers, for example, have nearly completed their dispatches of harvest-screened baby potatoes, having graded out approximately half of the quantities of smalls compared to a normal year. We'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, the south east of England is dry as a bone. There's plenty of time to go before the spring, but there's going to have to be a lot of rain at some stage in the next four months to stave off a potential drought next season. The rain is likely, but the risk is there.