France: Potato growers give away their produce due to price freezes

After two years of difficult harvests, French potato production is expected to reach its highest level in the last ten years this season, with a total of 8.5 million tons. While this is initially good news for this French economic sector, the truth is that this sudden abundance has caused the price of tubers to drop from €150 per ton to €15 in less than a year.

The National Union of Potato Producers, which represents all French farmers, has deemed this price "destructive." Furthermore, the association is currently in conflict with manufacturers and large retailers, to the point where many have decided to abandon their crops.

One example of this action took place in Pissos (in the Aquitaine region), where a farmer decided to dump thousands of tons of potatoes on a field, creating a mountain of this food. 

Afterward, the news went viral on social media, and hundreds of neighbors came to take advantage of the opportunity. "I’m leaving with at least 100 kilos," one resident told a local media outlet. "A bag costs between three and four euros, and we have them for free here, of course. It’s a small saving," said another Pissos resident, who came to take advantage of this windfall and was able to take home nearly eight kilos of tubers.

“We’re harvesting too much, and the result is a fairly widespread drop in prices. The only positive thing is that our bad luck is making consumers happy, as they can benefit from prices they haven’t had in a long time,” said Samuel Allix, a potato producer from Saint-Jean-d’Illac (Gironde), when asked about the current situation in the sector. Other farmers have decided not to give away their harvest, but to sell it at low prices, such as 15 euro cents per kilo of potatoes.

A record harvest that needs controls

With an estimated average yield of 43 tons per hectare, national potato production in France could reach 8.5 million tons, almost 900,000 tons more than the 2024 production. The National Union of Potato Producers has estimated that 2025 is shaping up to be a record-breaking year for storage potatoes in France.

The truth is that this level of production hasn’t been seen in France for a decade. The explanation for this historic harvest lies in the area dedicated to potato cultivation, which has grown by 25% compared to 2023, reaching 197,000 hectares. With this overproduction, the association warns that, by exceeding market capacity, producers’ profitability is compromised.

The international context is not helping to mitigate the losses in the agricultural sector. Exports, one of the main outlets for French potatoes, are facing market constraints, rising logistics costs, and geopolitical tensions that affect trade flows. Thus, prices for early-harvest tuber varieties have fallen to almost zero euros per ton, a situation that the UNPT describes as a "destructive spiral," as these conditions irreversibly weaken the value chain. Therefore, the association calls on all farmers to reject destructive prices and resist the temptation to sell below cost, even as the market exerts increasing pressure.