Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, has released its 2024–2025 Activity Report, detailing a year marked by significant challenges and proactive initiatives. The report underscores the association’s commitment to sustainability, policy advocacy, and industry resilience in the face of climatic and regulatory pressures.
Message from the President: A Call for Sector Unity and Forward Momentum
In his opening foreword to the report, Tigran Richter, President of Europatat, offered a candid reflection on the state of the European potato sector, highlighting both its vulnerabilities and enduring strengths. Richter acknowledged the increasing regulatory burden on potato operators and the growing complexity of doing business within the EU’s Green Deal framework.
However, he emphasized that the sector must not retreat into complacency or nostalgia. Instead, he urged all stakeholders to remain united, agile, and forward-looking. Richter reaffirmed Europatat’s role as the collective voice of the sector and emphasized the importance of aligning with long-term policy directions while safeguarding the practical viability of the trade. His message served not only as a leadership statement but as a rallying cry for innovation, solidarity, and strategic advocacy.
Navigating Climatic and Regulatory Hurdles
The European potato sector faced notable obstacles, including adverse weather conditions in 2023 that led to reduced seed potato availability and larger tuber sizes. These challenges prompted Europatat to engage in productive dialogues with Copa-Cogeca to address seed viability concerns and support farmers across the EU.
Concurrently, the EU’s Green Deal initiatives and climate change policies have exerted pressure on potato production, leading to farmer protests in Brussels and other cities. Europatat has been actively involved in discussions to balance environmental goals with the practical needs of the potato industry, advocating for regulatory approaches that are both ambitious and achievable.
Strategic Focus on Sustainability and Innovation
In response to evolving environmental and market demands, Europatat established a Sustainability Commission in 2022. The commission developed a guiding document titled “Sustainability Indicators – An Inspirational Checklist for Europatat Members,” aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This practical tool encourages members to identify, measure, and improve their environmental and social performance.
The association also played an active role in shaping the EU’s Agricultural Promotion policy. It submitted comprehensive feedback to the European Commission ahead of the 2025 Annual Work Programme, advocating for a balanced budget that supports not only sustainability and organic agriculture, but also generic promotion activities critical to the potato trade.
Safeguarding Plant Health Amid Evolving Threats
Plant health remained a core priority for Europatat throughout 2024, as the sector grappled with the dual pressures of increasing phytosanitary threats and tightening EU biosecurity protocols. The association actively monitored developments in key areas such as the revised EU Plant Health Regulation and the implications of Brexit-related trade adjustments, particularly regarding seed potato movements between the EU and the UK.
Europatat continued to collaborate closely with the European Commission, national plant protection organizations, and member companies to ensure science-based, proportionate measures that safeguard both crop security and market access. With growing concerns over pest and disease outbreaks, including the emergence of new quarantine pathogens, Europatat underscored the need for early detection, harmonized certification schemes, and enhanced traceability as critical pillars of a resilient plant health framework.
Strengthening Scientific Partnerships: Collaboration with EuroBlight
Recognizing the escalating threat posed by late blight across European potato-growing regions, Europatat has deepened its collaboration with EuroBlight, the continent’s leading network for research and monitoring of Phytophthora infestans. This partnership supports data sharing, surveillance harmonization, and coordinated responses to fungicide resistance and pathogen evolution.
In 2024, Europatat reinforced its role as a bridge between scientific research and commercial application, promoting the integration of EuroBlight’s findings into practical disease management strategies for seed and ware potato traders. Through this cooperation, Europatat aims to empower its members with cutting-edge insights and tools to enhance crop protection while reducing chemical inputs—contributing both to plant health resilience and broader sustainability goals.
Leadership Transitions and Organizational Developments
The General Assembly meeting in May 2024 saw the election of Francisco Moya as Europatat’s new Treasurer, succeeding Heero Gramsma. Moya, Managing Director of Spain’s Vitalis Network and a seasoned industry leader through FEDEPOM and CNIPT, joins President Tigran Richter and Vice-President Vlastimil Rasocha in steering the association into a dynamic new phase.
Europatat’s membership has grown to 67 members representing more than 20 European countries, including new additions from the Netherlands, France, Lithuania, and Finland. This expanding and increasingly diverse network enhances the association’s capacity to represent the sector’s full spectrum of interests, from seed and ware potatoes to packaging and logistics.
Celebrating the International Day of Potato
On May 30, 2024, Europatat joined the global community in celebrating the first-ever UN-declared International Day of Potato. To mark the occasion, the association launched “7 Days, 7 Potato Facts”, a week-long social media campaign that showcased the potato’s contribution to nutrition, biodiversity, food security, and sustainability. This outreach campaign drew significant engagement and bolstered the crop’s visibility across EU institutions and consumer channels.
Building Resilience Through Collective Vision
As the European potato sector stands at the crossroads of climatic volatility, regulatory transition, and evolving consumer expectations, Europatat’s 2024–2025 Activity Report offers more than a year-in-review—it lays out a strategic compass for the road ahead. The association’s initiatives in sustainability, regulatory advocacy, and sector-wide engagement reflect an urgent yet deliberate push to future-proof the industry. By fostering dialogue between policy-makers, producers, traders, and researchers, Europatat is enabling the sector to adapt not just reactively, but with foresight and unity.
The message is clear: while the challenges are formidable—ranging from extreme weather patterns and tightening environmental regulations to supply chain disruptions and public scrutiny—the opportunities for renewal and innovation are just as great. The report affirms that sector-wide resilience will not be built by isolated efforts, but through a coordinated, principled approach that values transparency, inclusivity, and sustainability.
In a time of transformation, Europatat’s role as a unifying force is more essential than ever. With its growing network of members, its hands-on engagement with EU institutions, and its clear-eyed commitment to the future, Europatat continues to serve as both a stabilizing presence and a catalyst for change across Europe’s potato value chain.
For further details, the full report can be accessed via Europatat’s website.
Source: Europatat