Irish Farmers Association: ‘Potato growers get less than 20% of the price consumers pay for spuds’

Potato growers are getting less than one-fifth of the price a consumer pays for their product in the shop, a conference in Dublin today heard. Speaking at the National Potato Conference in Dublin, IFA President Joe Healy outlined how retailers are taking the lion’s share of the margin on potatoes, while farmers bear all of the risk. The conference organised by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) in association with Bord Bia and Teagasc, heard that pre-pack potatoes are retailing at up to €1,400 per tonne while growers receive less than one-fifth of that. “Many potato growers are having to sell their crop for less than it costs to produce. That situation cannot be sustained; the price the farmer gets has to rise, just to cover storage costs alone. Retailers and packers have to wake up to that and act now if they want to have a potato industry in the future,” Joe Healy warned. More