INTERPOM 2026 Sets a Three-Day Resilience Agenda for the Potato Industry
INTERPOM 2026 will bring 332 exhibitors from 15 countries to Kortrijk Xpo, with a seminar programme on future potato supply, water management and AI-ready processing.
INTERPOM 2026 will bring the international potato industry to Kortrijk Xpo in Belgium from 29 November to 1 December, with a three-day programme focused on the resilience of supply, water management and future-ready processing.
The exhibition is fully booked, with 332 exhibitors from 15 countries covering the complete potato value chain. Growers, contractors, processors, packers, traders and technology suppliers will meet under the theme “Growing Resilience in a Changing World”.
A different market backdrop
The 2026 edition arrives in a markedly different environment from the previous INTERPOM in 2024. The organisers point to abundant supply and weak free-market prices for potatoes intended for industrial processing, alongside geopolitical uncertainty, trade barriers, stronger competition from Asia, extreme weather and rising production costs.
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That backdrop shapes this year’s programme. Rather than treating resilience as a slogan, INTERPOM is organising the discussion around three operational questions: how Europe can secure future potato supply, how the sector can manage water more effectively, and how processing businesses can prepare their factories and organisations for technological change.
Sunday: the potato of the future
Sunday, 29 November, will focus on the resilience of supply. At 11:00, Ania Lukasiewicz of Wageningen University & Research will deliver the keynote “New rules, robust varieties: NGT as a game changer for Europe?”
The 14:00 panel, “The potato of the future: rooted in innovation”, will bring together specialists from Viaverda, Fiwap, WUR, ILVO, Inagro, PepsiCo and ROBPatat. Christophe Vermeulen, CEO of Belgapom, will moderate the discussion.
Monday: water management
Monday, 30 November, will examine the resilience of water resources. Dirk Halet, strategic water coordinator at VITO, will give the 11:00 keynote “Potatoes in troubled waters: lessons from the past, solutions for tomorrow.”
At 14:00, representatives of Ghent University, Azulatis, Inagro, Biotalys and VITO will discuss practical perspectives on water use across the potato sector, again moderated by Christophe Vermeulen.
Tuesday: the factory of the future
The final day, Tuesday, 1 December, will turn to operational resilience. Jan de Keyser, AgriFood Director at BNP Paribas Fortis, will open the day with a banking perspective on the future of the potato sector.
The afternoon panel, “Factory of the future: AI at full speed. Is your organisation on board?”, will feature speakers from Polysense, BNP Paribas Fortis, Wilde Zwanen and Deprez Construct. Lars Roba, Innovation Manager at Flanders’ FOOD, will moderate.
Innovation Tour to highlight exhibitor developments
Innovation remains a central part of the exhibition. An independent expert panel is selecting noteworthy developments presented by exhibitors, with the results due to be announced in mid-November. Visitors will be able to discover the selected technologies through a dedicated Innovation Tour during the event.
The exhibition itself spans the full chain: seed potatoes, soil cultivation and harvesting machinery, crop protection, precision agriculture, storage, sorting, peeling, cutting and packaging, as well as the trade and marketing of fresh and processed potatoes.
Practical information
- Dates: 29 November – 1 December 2026
- Opening hours: 09:30-18:00 daily
- Venue: Kortrijk Xpo, Kortrijk, Belgium
- Online admission: €15 per person per day, or €7.50 with a valid discount code
Registration and the latest visitor information are available on the official INTERPOM website.
Source: INTERPOM press release, 27 October 2026, and official event information. Featured image: Kortrijk Xpo, 2022, by Marcel Douwe Dekker, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
