Spain: "In Europe there are far more processed potatoes than fresh ones"
"These days, people don’t eat as many fresh potatoes that need to be peeled and cleaned at home. They eat more processed and pre-cooked potatoes."
’Agrodifusión’, the leading Spanish company in communication specializing in the agricultural sector, interviewed Alberto Duque, farmer and president of the Interprofessional Potato Association of Castilla y León, to talk about the decrease in potato consumption.
The interview covered essential topics for understanding the crisis in the sector, such as the collapse in the profitability of Spanish potatoes, the analysis of the reduction in cultivated land, and the pressure farmers are facing due to increasing European restrictions. Duque also discussed production per hectare and the rise in processed potatoes (pre-cooked or pre-cooked).
See moreSoil analysis servicesSpunta potato seedsAgricultural News LatamFertilizers for potato cultivationAgricultural news from ArgentinaPotato transport servicesOnline agricultural advertisingPotato market analysisCertified potato seedsCentral Market"This decline is mainly due to changing consumption habits. In 2000, the typical family structure in Europe was different than it is today. There were more established marriages, with more than one member, and now we see that this situation has been changing. Habits are changing; people are eating less at home, eating more fast food, or taking it to work, and that ultimately results in a decrease in potato consumption," the farmer explains.
Regarding which countries in Europe cultivate the most potatoes, the expert is clear: "We have all suffered a decrease in area and production, but now more tons per hectare are obtained than 20 years ago. The main ones are, in the following order, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland," explains Duque.
Along the same lines, the potato farmer wanted to express that in our country the cultivation of this basic food has not been managed well, and that "we buy a lot from France and have left the highest production costs in Spain."
The interviewer asks Duque what European potatoes are used for, to which the farmer replies: "Mostly, European potatoes are for consumption and processing in Europe. There are far more processed potatoes than fresh ones. Nowadays, not as many fresh potatoes are consumed, the kind you have to peel and clean at home. Instead, more are consumed as fourth and fifth range potatoes, which are even prepared and precooked."
Fuente: mundodeportivo.com
