R TRADE AND MARKETING A bright future for fresh and processed potatoes A shift to sales of processed potato products has allowed the industry to become more globalised, says Cedric Porter of World Potato Markets, but don’t write off fresh potatoes just yet. T raditionally potatoes were largely a local crop eaten close to where it was grown. The fact that it is a crop that could grow in a variety of conditions meant that it became very important for feeding communities that were establishing themselves across the world. But the bulky nature of potatoes and their relatively short storage life in comparison to grains and pulses meant that any shipments of potatoes were across relatively short distances. That remains true today. Take France, the world’s largest exporter of ware or fresh potatoes. In the 2014/15 season to the end of August 2015 it exported 1.790 million tonnes of potatoes, with 1.420 or nearly 80% of that total shipped to its nearest neighbours. It was the same for the USA with two thirds of the 405,000 tonnes it exported ending up in Canada or Mexico. For potatoes to become a truly international product, they had to be processed and that required developing preservation systems. Dehydrating, flaking or making flour are successful ways of making potatoes easy to store and transport, but it has been the frozen French fry that has revolutionised potato production. Its introduction by the Simplot company more than 60 years ago meant that potatoes could be stored for long periods and shipped across the world. Frozen fries also allowed potatoes to remain a major part of the diet in rapidly expanding US towns and cities. Processed overtaking fresh In established potato eating regions of the world such as North America processed potatoes took hold quickly and by the beginning of the 1970s consumption of processed potatoes had overtaken Potato World 2015 • number 4 33 Pagina 32
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