French fries in Sweden could be about to get shorter, as the hot summer resulted in poor harvests all across Europe. Chips could become over a centimetre shorter as a result of this year’s dry weather.
Certainly, the drought has not only affected potato crops in Sweden. Farmers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are now warning of significantly reduced harvests of the popular dietary staple. That is likely to result in higher prices in supermarkets as well as a reduction in size of harvested produce.
Since Sweden imports the majority of the fried variety of potato from Belgium and the Netherlands, shorter fries are a likelihood in the Scandinavian country. “They could go from 6 to 4.5 centimetres according to crop estimates and the information we have at the moment,” said Anders Huldt, CEO of industry organisation Svensk Potatis.
A similar Belgian industry organisation echoed those sentiments. “ Because the potatoes are smaller at the moment, we will all be eating smaller chips,” said Pierre Lebrun, head of the Walloon Potato Growers’ Association.
