Netherlands: Small Tubers Define a Difficult 2026 Harvest as Prices for Fry Potatoes Without Contracts Ease to €20–27.50
Dutch fry potatoes are unusually small this year, according to a processor's crop monitoring and a farm weekly. The weekly price quotation for potatoes sold without a contract fell slightly on 28 September.
The 2026 potato harvest in the Netherlands is not only small. The tubers are also unusually small, and this is now the main problem for processors of French fries. At the same time, prices for fry potatoes sold without a contract eased in the last week of September.
An agronomist at the Dutch processor Aviko described the season as historically challenging in an interview published on 26 September (agro.aviko.com). The company collects more than 250 field samples every two weeks in its four main growing areas in Europe. It also runs weekly test digs. According to the agronomist, yields are well below average. The biggest challenge is the exceptionally small tuber size. Even varieties with relatively good yields have smaller tubers than usual. This affects grading, processing and the value of the crop.
Many fields had a very high number of tubers per plant. The plants had to share water and nutrients over many tubers. Varieties with fewer tubers per plant are doing slightly better this year. The processor now watches for quality problems that show up in storage: second growth, low dry matter, frying colour and storability.
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The farm weekly Boerderij reported the same picture on 25 September. Long drought and heat cut average yields. Potatoes for French fries are small, and processors have to work hard to meet the specifications of their customers. Irrigation made a clear difference in yield.
The weekly price quotation for fry potatoes fell slightly on 28 September, the farm weekly Nieuwe Oogst reported. The quotation platform (potatonl.nl) set these prices for potatoes sold without a contract, in euros per 100 kg:
- Category I potatoes for large-scale processing: €20–27.50, on average €0.50 lower than a week earlier. Long varieties for fast-food fries are at the top of the range: Innovator and Markies.
- Round fry varieties: €20–23, €1 lower at both ends of the range. This group includes two varieties: Fontane and Ramos. More of these potatoes reach the market during the harvest.
- Potatoes for fresh fries: €22–30. The best lots fetched up to €32 a week earlier. The main variety in this group is Agria.
- Field-crop potatoes for export: €22–27, slightly lower.
In Belgium, two research institutes and the trade association price Fontane at €20 per 100 kg. They report few trades outside contracts, but a stable market without oversupply.
Our report on the previous price quotation, which held steady, was published on 23 September. Our report on the 27% fall in the Dutch ware potato harvest was published on 26 September.
Why it matters
Small tubers reduce the share of long fries that processors can cut from each tonne. This keeps demand for large potatoes high, even when harvest supply grows. The first price cut in a short-crop year shows that heavy supply during harvest can still press prices down for a few weeks. Quality risks in storage will become clearer only in the coming months.
Photo: A pile of harvested potatoes in Meeden, Groningen, the Netherlands (illustrative). Donald Trung Quoc Don / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
