Comment: The potato market has picked up significantly this week. Queens continue to sell well, with no pressure on prices. Growers are content to keep all remaining supplies ticking over in the market. All retailers are now selling new-season Rooster in prepacks. The recent wet weather has affected lifting of crops, thereby limiting the supply of new-season maincrop to the market.

All indications suggest a lower production of potatoes this season due to lower tuber numbers. In addition, all the old-season crop will be finished by September, thereby allowing a full marketing season for this year’s crop.

In the UK, prices remain under pressure on some lines, particularly as some growers try to dump poor-value product on to the market. However, as the harvest moves forward, we should see this situation stabilise.

In France, test digs indicate yields to be only average, while other countries, such as Belgium, are also seeing this trend of lower tuber numbers.