Brazil: Wholesale Potato Prices 52% Above Last Year in August, Rising Again After September Rain

Wholesale potato prices in Brazil fell again in August. However, they stayed far above last year. This is shown in the September bulletin on fruit and vegetables from the national supply company Conab.

The bulletin uses data from ten wholesale markets, called Ceasas. These include markets in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Recife.

In August, the weighted average potato price fell by 11.6% compared with July. In July, the price had already fallen by 37.3%. Before that, prices had risen since February. In May alone, the price jumped by 57.9%.

Prices fell in every market in August. The smallest fall was 8.2% in Fortaleza. The largest was 46.3% in Rio Branco. In the south, prices fell by 25.7% at the Ceasa in São José, near Florianópolis, and by 22.8% in Curitiba.

Compared with August 2025, the average price was 52.0% higher. According to Conab, the 2025 supply was more than sufficient and pushed prices down. Growers then planted less in 2026. The largest yearly rise was 89.6% in São José, near Florianópolis. In São Paulo (Ceagesp) the rise was 42.0%. In Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte it was 47.0%.

The volume of potatoes sold in August was 10.3% lower than in July. The supply came from five states: São Paulo gave 52%, Minas Gerais 27%, Bahia 8%, Goiás 8% and Paraná 2%.

The picture changed in September. In the first half of the month, repeated rain in the south-east slowed the harvest. The main producing areas are around São João da Boa Vista and Itapetininga in São Paulo state and Araxá in Minas Gerais. Deliveries to wholesale markets fell. By mid-September, prices were 44.0% above the August average at Ceagesp in São Paulo. At Ceasaminas in Belo Horizonte, the rise was close to 50%.

According to Conab, better harvest conditions are expected if rainfall eases in the rest of September. More potatoes would then reach the wholesale markets. That could stop or reverse the price rise seen in the first half of the month.

The technical team of the Prohort programme at Conab confirmed the August figures in a written reply to potatoes.news on 25 September. The monthly and yearly changes are nominal prices in reais per kilogram. They cover ten wholesale markets: São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Vitória, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Recife, Rio Branco and Fortaleza. The fall of 10.3% refers to the total volume sold at these markets. The average price of R$2.63 per kilogram, quoted in the press, is the average weighted by the volume sold at the ten markets, the team said.

Conab also looks ahead to the summer crop in the south, which usually supplies the markets in November and December. Forecasts point to a smaller crop than in 2025/26, because growers are cautious in the face of a strong El Niño.

Why it matters

Brazilian potato prices now move sharply with the weather. Growers who reduced planting after the 2025 price collapse now sell at much higher prices. Buyers face a volatile market until the southern harvest starts. A smaller southern crop could keep prices high into the end of the year.

Our report on how drier weather sped up the harvest was published on 25 September.

Photo: A street food market in the Saúde district of São Paulo, Brazil (illustrative). Wilfredor / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0