Report: Global trade in frozen potato products down, Netherlands loses export share, US imports still rising

Market and consumer data analytics company Annual Insight has released its November Insights report on Frozen Potato Products earlier today.

Highlights of the report:

Global Trade: November 2020 down 9% compared to November 2019

Following a mediocre October, Annual Insight reports that November again proved to be a difficult month for the frozen potato exporters. In November 2020 trade was down 9% compared to November 2019. YTD trade is still down 11%.

Exports: The Netherlands loses share

In terms of exporters, it was the Netherlands taking a large hit, with exports down 21% compared to November 2019. Trade for The Netherlands was especially down in the United Kingdom (-19%), Germany (-30%), Italy (-79%), and France (-37%). These are all markets in which COVID foodservice restrictions were in place.

Some markets provide a positive view of Dutch exports from a volume perspective, but it comes at the expense of price. Most notable, exports to Saudi Arabia (+1.100 tonnes), Colombia (+2.100 tonnes), and Kuwait (+1.700 tonnes) increased compared to last November. Within these markets the average price decreased by 11 cents per kg (at least 10%).

Imports: The United States still on the rise

With general trade taking a strong hit, there are some exceptions to that rule. The United States imports are still up strongly and continue to be on the rise. Besides Belgian imports, Canadian imports also show strong growth.

The explanation for this could be rather easy. Two new potato plants were inaugurated in Canada in late 2019 (Cavendish Farms, Lethbridge) and early 2020 (JR Simplot, Portage La Praire). The Simplot plant makes potato products for quick-service restaurant chains and other customers in the eastern, southeastern, and midwestern United States. As Simplot stated in a news article: “We’re seeing a big rise in demand for quick service restaurants and products that hold up well for delivery, which is good for us.”

This and similar potato industry reports produced by Annual Insight are available monthly. You can subscribe to receive the company’s newsletters free of charge here: https://annual-insight.nl/#newsletter-signup.

For questions about this report, feel free to get in touch with Floris van der Pijl, Sector Analyst at Annual Insight: floris.van.der.pijl@annual-insight.nl or +31 (0) 6 418 166 83.

Source: Annual Insight
Related Annual Insight report: Global frozen potato trade still down 10% compared to last year
Cover photo: Courtesy Frozen Food Europe