Major Belgian frozen potato processors are scaling back production as the sector faces oversupply and weaker market conditions.

At the Clarebout Potatoes factory in Nieuwkerke, West Flanders, production has been temporarily halted and a temporary unemployment scheme has been introduced for more than 300 workers. The measure applies to manual workers and runs from 11 to 23 March, while office staff remain unaffected.

Clarebout Potatoes operates additional production sites in Waasten, Mouscron and Dunkirk in France. Production at those facilities has reportedly not been halted.

According to Lars Decock of the ACV Food and Services trade union, the company and the wider industry are facing an oversupply of frozen fries.

“There is a lot of competition from Asian countries and energy prices are also putting some pressure,” Decock said.

Clarebout described the shutdown as a temporary operational adjustment linked to broader market conditions. The company referred to a “short-term operational adjustment, as a result of recent market fluctuations and tensions in the supply chain”.

Decock added that the production halt could also allow Clarebout to align its production facilities with those of the US-based food and agriculture company Simplot, which acquired the Belgian frozen fries specialist last year. The potential consequences of such alignment remain unclear.

The market slowdown is also affecting other processors in Belgium’s key potato processing region of West Flanders. At the Lutosa facility in Sint-Eloois-Vijve, part of the weekend production schedule is being reduced.

According to Decock, the company will partially phase out the weekend shift, with the production of fresh fries at the weekend being halted.

Lutosa forms part of the Canadian-based McCain group.

Industry representatives also point to wider geopolitical factors affecting export markets. Christophe Vermeulen, CEO of the Belgian potato trade federation Belgapom, said that tensions linked to the conflict involving Iran are affecting the sector’s export environment.

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states are among the most important export markets for Belgian potato products, according to Vermeulen.

Higher energy costs and disruptions to transport routes linked to the conflict are adding further pressure on the sector at a time when processors are already dealing with excess frozen fries production capacity.