Despite the very dry summer of 2022 and heavy rainfall and frost in 2023, which affected up to 10%
caused harvest losses and affected the Belgian potato processing industry.
2023 6,225,758 tons of potatoes processed. This will be a record for 2022.
In this way, the sector shows its resilience and adaptability adapt to difficult circumstances.
Christophe Vermeulen, CEO of Belgapom: “The reliability and flexibility of our sector are confirmed by these figures. Despite the climate challenges, our processors innovate and deliver high-quality products both locally and internationally.
International market.
This means that we remain a world leader in the sector, and we can do so. Our fries are golden brown. This success story is a credit to our family businesses and I remain hopeful that our policy makers will reflect this by continuing to value them.
We will face many challenges in the coming years will require serious efforts from the entire sector, not least from our manufacturers. I
I expect the new government to adopt a clear, consistent and ambitious policy to achieve joint results sustainable growth scenario. Either way, the industry meets halfway.”
The processing industry has seen significant growth in the production of frozen French fries. It exceeded the 2.9 million tons mark. Chip production remains strong and stable at 80 tons. When using chilled fresh fries we noticed a slight decrease of approximately 20 tons, bringing the tonnage to almost 181 tons. The striking factor remains
specialized potato products, the volume of which amounted to 413,091 tons in 2023. An evolution that shows that our potato sector has become international thanks to innovative solutions to maintain and strengthen its competitive position.
This is also reflected in the number of employees and the number of employees exceeds the 6,000 mark for the first time. There are now 6,275 people directly employed in this sector.
A very striking trend is the enormous increase in the purchasing value of our raw materials.Potatoes were purchased from producers for almost 1.3 billion euros. This is an increase of at least 30%. There are many factors at play here, such as significantly increased contract prices and historic open market prices due to shortages in the spring and summer of 2023.
There is no doubt that the raw materials sector also contributes to the success of the potato sector.
A crucial aspect for the further development of a sustainable potato chain.
Climate and geopolitical situations continue to affect other countries as well.
Major cost items: energy, oil and packaging. They increased by an average of 10% to 846 million euros, also an absolute record.
Belgium maintains its position as the world leader in the export of frozen fries, with 84% of the product destined for the international market and an export value of almost 4 billion euros.
