In Russia, there is talk of a future shortage of potatoes for the production of fries and chips. The reason for the shortage of raw materials may be a high dependence, reaching 95 percent, on imported seeds and a decrease in their market share.
According to the Union of Potato and Vegetable Market Participants (Potato Union), on average, 10-12 thousand tons of seed potatoes from the European Union were imported into the country annually. And mainly the varieties intended for industrial processing were exported.
There has been a sharp decline in Western supplies this season. Including in connection with the Rosselkhoznadzor’s ban on the import of potato seeds from the Netherlands for phytosanitary reasons. Previously, Russia imported about 5 thousand tons of high-reproduction seeds from this country every year.
About 2.5 million tons of potatoes are sent annually to the production of fries, chips and potato flakes in Russia. And today, domestic processors are seriously thinking about what kind of raw materials they will deal with in the medium term.
