Washington Potato Producers Can’t Keep Up With Demand
Washington potato producers are unable to meet global demand for french fries, hash browns, tots, potato chips, and other processed potato goods.
Because of the inability to supply the potatoes, other countries have taken over the market share.
“We’re seeing a lot more European french fries and hash browns and Tater Tots in Asia than we ever have. And again, it’s because we’re just not able to keep up with demand,” Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington Potato Commission, said, cited by Tri-cities.
In a USD7.4bn industry, Washington’s potato yields are down around 9% over the last two years. Potatoes have been planted on approximately 66,773 hectares throughout the state.
About 90% of the spuds grown in Washington are processing potatoes and “that’s kind of unusual compared to most potato states in the country,” Voigt said.
“And the reason why we have such a high presence of processing here is that we just have consistently high yields and consistently high quality. And so all the potato processors are drawn to our area,” he summed up.