Too small for fries: drought shrinks Belgian potatoes
Smaller potatoes are forcing growers to rely on last year’s stocks, and Belgium’s fry vendors say tighter supplies could push consumer prices higher.
- Belgian farmers warned that extreme weather has stunted this year's potato crop, threatening the world's top exporter of frozen fries and its global supply chains.
- Heavy spring rain followed by a hot, dry summer hardened the soil, preventing potatoes from growing normally. In Amay, near Liege, farmer Mathieu Comijn reported his Bintje potatoes are barely the size of ping-pong balls.
- The Comijn family grows 500 hectares of potatoes and must meet strict supply contracts. Farmer Stephane Comijn explained they will draw on last year's stocks, though he lamented, "We're going to have to use varieties that aren't as good."
- Bernard Lefevre, president of Belgium's national union of fry vendors, warned that supplies are under pressure. "Fry prices are likely to heat up too," Lefevre said, representing 4,500 shops across the country.
- Belgium handles more than six million tonnes of potatoes annually, exporting around 90% of its frozen fries to more than 120 markets worldwide. Local harvest shortages could ripple through global supply chains and consumer prices.
12 Articles
12 Articles
(Brussels=Yonhap News) Correspondent Hyun Yun-kyung = As potatoes shrank and harvest yields plummeted due to continued abnormal weather conditions, including the worst heatwave to hit Europe this summer, the home of french fries...
Belgian growers are warning that this year's potatoes may be too small to produce the famous French fries, which are on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. This is due to extreme weather conditions. Farmer Mathieu Comijn from Amay, near Liège, grew Bintje potatoes this year, which are only the size of ping-pong balls. "You can see that the soil is extremely dry. Normally, they should be at least four times larger. Right now, we can't mak…
In Belgium, farmers face a disappointing potato harvest due to extreme weather conditions, jeopardizing the production of traditional fries "How you
Too small for fries: drought shrinks Belgian potatoes
"How do you expect to make fries out of these?" asked the Belgian farmer in frustration, as he uprooted another plant and examined it. "Normally, they should be at least four times this size," he said. Like many Belgian farmers this summer, Comijn's harvest in Amay, near the eastern city of Liege, has been hit by a devastating combination of weather extremes. First, a spate of heavy rain and storms at the end of spring weakened the soil. Then, a…
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