European french fry trade has struggled throughout the pandemic, the May 20 issue of North American Potato Market News (NAPM) says. Challenges have been larger for the internal European Union market than exports.
During the year ending Jan. 31, EU nations shipped 5.22 billion lbs of frozen product to external customers, which was 9.4 per cent less than the year before. Trade within the EU was at 5.48 million lbs, down 15.3 per cent from 2019.
Seventy-five per cent of EU fry import markets have reduced purchases, with shipments to the United Kingdom falling the most, the report notes. This was followed by sales to Russia, Jordan and Chile. The United States and Brazil however increased their purchases of EU frozen products by 23.7 per cent and 33.1 per cent respectively.
“Pandemic related issues continue to slow demand for European French Fries. Though we only have trade data for the major exporters through January, Dutch data on production of pre-cooked potato products, which run through April, hint that demand continues to fall short of pre-pandemic levels,” NAPM says.
Fry Sales Drop in European Nations
In Belgium, they shipped 2.87 billion lbs of frozen potato products to other European markets, a 10.5 per cent drop. Outside of Europe they shipped 2.79 billion lbs, which was only down 0.9 per cent.
Netherlands french fry processors exported 413.9 million lbs to other EU nations, a 21.6 per cent drop, while outside of the EU they shipped 395.7 million lbs, a 17.2 per cent decrease from 2019, the report notes.
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