By Lukie Pieterse, Potato News Today
A year when capacity investment became tangible – not just theoretical.
2025 did not magically remove the potato industry’s structural challenges – weather volatility, input costs, phytosanitary risk, labour scarcity, and trade friction all remained present. But across multiple regions, the year still delivered something the sector badly needed: credible forward motion.
New processing capacity moved from talk to ground-breaking. Seed systems took practical steps toward transparency and quality. Sustainability shifted from marketing language to measurable frameworks. Research delivered real-world tools – not just more papers.
Below is a global round-up of positive potato-sector developments that defined 2025.
A year when capacity investment became tangible – not theoretical
A standout theme of 2025 was that frozen processing and ingredient manufacturing continued moving into a new build-and-expand cycle. This matters because potatoes are not just grown – they are mobilized: stored, contracted, graded, processed, shipped, and marketed through increasingly capital-intensive systems.
In several countries, investors and established processors aligned around the same reality: global demand for frozen potato products and value-added formats remains resilient, and supply chains must be built to withstand volatility. What made 2025 different was the number of projects that progressed beyond announcements into real construction and execution planning.
Just as importantly, these investments are no longer framed only as “more tonnes.” Many are tied to regional agronomy support, storage build-outs, and grower alignment – a sign that processors are thinking in systems, not just factories.
North America: processing momentum, sustainability measurement, and stronger plant-health playbooks
In the United States, the year’s most symbolic “confidence signal” was the visible progress tied to Agristo’s Grand Forks, North Dakota project, including on-the-ground site preparation and grower planning around future storage and contracted acreage. Even before commissioning, projects like this reshape local decision-making: rotations, irrigation investment, storage design, and the willingness of younger growers to commit to potatoes as a long-term enterprise rather than a high-risk annual bet.
North American sustainability reporting also took a step toward repeatable measurement. The Potato Sustainability Alliance’s 2025 on-farm assessment window – using the Sustainable Outcomes in Agriculture Standard through Cropwise™ Sustainability – reinforced that the sector is building shared language around practices and outcomes. The big shift here is not perfection; it is comparability. Once growers can benchmark, the conversation changes from “who is sustainable” to “what improves performance and resilience.”
Canada’s policy-side progress mattered too. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s updated National Potato Wart Response Plan for the 2025 crop year signaled a more modernized, standardized response framework for new detections outside Newfoundland and Labrador. For growers and exporters, clearer protocols reduce uncertainty – and uncertainty is one of the most expensive “hidden costs” in the potato business.
Another strong Canada signal came from PepsiCo’s regenerative agriculture expansion plan, which framed soil health not as a niche program but as a scaled partnership approach with producers – directly relevant to potato supply chains because chips and processed potatoes are increasingly being asked to prove their footprint improvements.
Europe: ingredient strength, circular bioeconomy pathways, and record-setting knowledge exchange
Europe’s 2025 story was not only fries – it was also potato ingredients and the expanding importance of starch, protein, and flakes in food and industrial markets.
Royal Avebe delivered two notable signals: first, the acquisition of Solan (potato flakes and granules), strengthening its product portfolio; and second, the operational rhythm of its 2025 potato campaign, a reminder that large ingredient systems run on disciplined logistics over months, not headlines over days. Ingredient players don’t just buy potatoes – they manage industrial continuity, grower delivery schedules, and factory utilization at scale.
Scotland offered one of the most interesting “future potato economy” narratives of the year: efforts to turn potato haulms (shaws) into high-value compounds such as solanesol for pharmaceutical and cosmetics supply chains. If this pathway proves commercially viable, it changes the economics of what has traditionally been treated as waste – and it gives farmers a potential new income stream tied to whole-plant utilization.
And on the knowledge-exchange front, PotatoEurope 2025 in Lelystad delivered record attendance numbers and global participation. That matters because trade shows are not just exhibitions – they are where machinery makers, breeders, processors, and growers silently coordinate the next wave of adoption. Record turnout is often a lagging indicator of something deeper: confidence that innovation is worth investing time and capital in.
Latin America: major processing build-out and regional demand alignment
Brazil continued to strengthen its position as a growth market for frozen potato products. McCain’s announced major investment to expand its Araxá (MG) facility – including additional production lines – underscored the long-term view that domestic and regional demand can justify large-scale capital deployment. This also tends to ripple backward into farming systems: varieties, irrigation planning, storage expansion, and more formal contracting structures.
Argentina added another major signal with the opening of Lamb Weston’s Mar del Plata facility. Large, modern plants do more than produce product – they tend to professionalize local supply ecosystems through tighter specifications, technical support, and stronger incentives for consistent quality. For South America, where processing expansion and export ambition often go hand in hand, facilities like this can become anchor points for regional potato specialization.
The broader takeaway from Latin America in 2025 was that processing investment is increasingly being distributed across multiple geographies, rather than concentrating only in a few traditional Northern Hemisphere hubs.
Asia: strategic research hubs, new factories, and China’s processing acceleration
Asia’s 2025 story blended two forces: industrial expansion and strategic public research positioning.
In India, the approval and launch steps around CIP’s South Asia Regional Centre in Agra marked a significant institutional vote of confidence in potato and sweetpotato innovation as engines of farmer prosperity. This kind of center is not just about breeding – it is about seed systems, value chain support, and the practical transfer of resilient genetics into farmer fields.
Japan added a clear manufacturing signal through Calbee’s new Setouchi Hiroshima Factory commencing operations in January 2025 – a reminder that even mature snack markets continue reinvesting in productivity, environmental performance, and workforce conditions. When a major brand modernizes capacity, it can raise expectations across the whole supplier network.
China’s processing gravity continued building. Aviko’s ongoing expansion phases in Gansu reflect the long-term direction: more flakes capacity, more industrial scale, and deeper regional integration. At the same time, plans by European processors to establish or expand operations in China – such as Clarebout’s reported Beijing facility plan – reinforced that China is no longer just a “future market.” It is a present-tense processing battleground where policy, demand, and industrial strategy intersect.
A major global industry signal also landed late in the year: Simplot’s completion of its acquisition of Clarebout Group. Moves like this matter because they reshape competitive dynamics, customer relationships, and geographic supply optionality across the frozen potato landscape.
Oceania: Australia’s step-change ambition and New Zealand’s practical innovation
Australia delivered one of the year’s biggest “new geography” processing stories: Farm Frites confirming its first Australian processing facility and regional headquarters in Victoria (Dooen). Beyond jobs and investment value, this is strategically important because it suggests an attempt to reduce import dependence and tighten the link between local production zones and large-scale processing supply.
In New Zealand, the Potato Seed Co-operative’s innovation recognition for processing technology reinforced that productivity gains are not only found in genetics or chemistry – they are also found in precision handling, grading, cutting, and seed preparation. Seed quality improvements translate directly into stand establishment, uniformity, and ultimately marketable yield – the quiet math that keeps growers profitable.
Together, Australia and New Zealand showed two different versions of progress in 2025: one centered on industrial scale-up, the other on operational excellence.
Africa: seed-system transparency, new varieties, and the continent’s rising global role
Africa’s good-news story in 2025 was especially encouraging because it leaned into the fundamentals: seed systems, variety release, and the slow building of sector credibility.
Rwanda’s launch of an official seed potato catalogue (and related variety description guide work) was a meaningful governance and transparency step. In many developing potato economies, the yield ceiling is not land or effort – it is seed quality and trust. Catalogues and guides don’t solve everything, but they create a platform for consistent variety identity, cleaner multiplication pathways, and better alignment between farmers, seed multipliers, and market needs.
Uganda also delivered a practical signal through the handover of improved potato varieties (including industrial-targeted releases) to private seed firms for multiplication and distribution. This is exactly the kind of public-private handoff that can accelerate adoption, especially when demand growth is being pulled by processors and urban consumers.
Kenya’s inclusion of new varieties bred through collaboration involving Scotland’s James Hutton Institute – now on Kenya’s National Variety List – was another bright spot, not only for pest resistance potential but also for what it represents: international breeding partnerships that still respect local performance requirements and farmer realities.
South Africa’s potato sector also highlighted the value of grower-led institutional models and innovation dialogue, with global industry figures engaging directly with producers and the national industry body. This matters because governance structures – not just technology – determine whether innovation reaches farms at scale.
Finally, Africa’s rising role was reinforced by the visibility of continental potato and sweetpotato dialogue through conferences and planning momentum, as well as Kenya’s confirmation and ongoing logistics build toward hosting the World Potato Congress in 2026 – an event whose preparation work in 2025 already helped frame Africa as a serious strategic geography for the global potato community.
What these wins had in common
Across continents, the most meaningful positive developments in 2025 shared several traits:
- Systems thinking: investments paired with grower alignment, agronomy support, storage planning, and measurable frameworks
- Seed as strategy: multiple countries treated seed quality and variety identity as economic infrastructure
- Industrial confidence: processors and ingredient makers signaled long-run demand belief through capital deployment
- Resilience framing: sustainability and plant health were treated less as “nice-to-have” and more as risk management
Just as important was the human layer: farmers, plant operators, researchers, and industry organizations showed that progress is still possible even in a world of volatility – provided the sector keeps building practical tools rather than chasing slogans.
What to watch heading into 2026
If 2025 was the year the potato industry proved it could still invest and innovate under pressure, 2026 will be the year those commitments meet reality – weather, labour, energy costs, disease pressure, and market expectations. The most useful way to read the 2026 outlook is through a few practical “watchpoints” that will determine whether the momentum from 2025 compounds or stalls.
Whether new processing investments translate into durable grower confidence (not just acreage spikes)
Large plants and expansions create a surge of optimism – but the real test is whether they produce stable, fair, workable contracts and predictable delivery systems.
- Watch for contract structures that reflect true farm risk (input volatility, weather variability, storage loss risk) rather than pushing all uncertainty onto growers.
- Track whether processors increase agronomy support, on-farm quality coaching, and storage advisory – because consistent fries and chips begin long before the receiving pit.
- Pay attention to whether new capacity leads to “land competition” and rent inflation, or whether it is balanced with long-term crop planning.
Storage modernization: energy efficiency, quality stability, and worker safety are becoming non-negotiable
As more potatoes are grown for processing and as specification windows tighten, storage becomes the make-or-break stage.
- Look for accelerated adoption of monitoring tech (remote sensors, ventilation optimization, CO₂ and humidity management, airflow mapping, and smarter control systems).
- Energy costs remain a key variable – so storage designs that reduce kWh per tonne while protecting fry color and solids will gain traction.
- Worker safety culture will matter more, not less: confined-space awareness, gas monitoring, lockout/tagout discipline, and maintenance training are increasingly part of modern storage professionalism.
Whether sustainability measurement becomes decision-useful for farmers – not merely reporting-useful for brands
2025 strengthened structured assessment frameworks, but 2026 will expose whether those frameworks can stay practical at farm level.
- Watch whether reporting requirements become simpler, aligned, and interoperable (less duplication across buyers).
- Look for stronger links between measured outcomes and tangible benefits: preferred supplier status, contract stability, financing advantages, lower insurance friction, or premium access.
- A key question: does sustainability data help improve agronomy (soil organic matter, water use efficiency, nutrient management), or does it become administrative drag?
The seed-system “trust gap”: will certified and quality-declared seed expand fast enough – especially in Africa and parts of Asia?
Seed remains the single biggest yield lever in many regions, but seed systems take years to mature.
- Watch for investment in rapid multiplication, variety identity systems, and more transparent certification standards.
- Follow whether private seed firms gain confidence to scale multiplication – and whether public programs strengthen inspection and disease management.
- Track pricing and access: if quality seed remains unaffordable or unavailable, productivity gains will remain uneven.
Pest and disease pressure under climate volatility: more surveillance, faster response, better genetics
Warmer, more variable seasons tend to widen disease windows and increase unpredictability.
- Watch for expanded early-warning systems and better regional monitoring for late blight risk, aphid flights, and soil-borne threats.
- Resistant varieties (blight, PCN, virus tolerance, heat/drought resilience) will matter more as chemical and regulatory pressures tighten.
- Where biosecurity rules are being updated (Canada is a strong example), watch how quickly industry aligns behind consistent protocols.
The “ingredients and whole-plant” opportunity: will potatoes diversify beyond traditional endpoints?
Projects like potato shaws-to-bio-ingredients are early indicators of a broader shift toward circular value chains.
- Watch for pilots that prove scalable economics: consistent feedstock supply, extraction efficiency, and credible end-markets.
- If these projects mature, watch how value is shared upstream – will growers gain a meaningful revenue stream, or will value concentrate downstream?
- Expect more attention to by-products: peel streams, starch recovery, protein extraction, and energy recovery systems.
Global consolidation and supply-chain geopolitics: who controls capacity, and what does that mean for growers?
M&A and large processing investments reshape bargaining power and market structure.
- Watch for how consolidation affects contract terms, delivery scheduling, and transparency in grading and claims.
- Track whether buyers diversify sourcing to reduce regional risk – or over-concentrate supply in a few mega-hubs.
- Look at how policy and trade conditions influence processing expansion in growth markets (notably Asia).
Africa’s “next step”: moving from foundational progress to measurable productivity and market stability
Africa’s 2025 momentum was real, but 2026 will test whether improvements scale beyond pilot zones.
- Watch for expansion of clean seed supply, distribution networks, and training that reaches farmers consistently.
- Look for cold chain and storage improvements (even basic, low-cost ventilation and handling upgrades can change outcomes).
- Track the role of processors and urban demand: when stable off-take exists, farmer investment follows.
The human infrastructure problem: skills, labour, and leadership pipelines
Even the best genetics and machines fail without skilled people.
- Watch for workforce development: storage managers, plant operators, agronomy advisors, and equipment technicians are increasingly scarce.
- Pay attention to whether processors and industry bodies invest in training programs and career pathways that keep younger professionals in the sector.
- The industry’s resilience will increasingly depend on whether it can make potato careers feel future-worthy.
Bottom line for 2026:
The momentum from 2025 will hold if the industry does three things well:
- turn investment into fair, workable grower partnerships
- treat storage and seed systems as strategic infrastructure
- make sustainability and resilience practical at farm level, not only presentable at corporate level
References
Potato News Today – Trends: https://potatoeswithoutborders.com/category/trends/
Potato News Today – Belgian potato processor Agristo expands global footprint with major new investments in Europe and the U.S. (Jan 11, 2025): https://potatoeswithoutborders.com/2025/01/11/belgian-potato-processor-agristo-expands-global-footprint-with-major-new-investments-in-europe-and-the-u-s/
Potato News Today – Grand Forks-area farmers excited for Agristo to put a ‘spark back in potato business’ (Dec 8, 2025): https://potatoeswithoutborders.com/2025/12/08/grand-forks-area-farmers-excited-for-agristo-to-put-a-spark-back-in-potato-business/
Potato News Today – Record-breaking edition of PotatoEurope Netherlands 2025: The international potato world gathers in Lelystad (Sep 11, 2025): https://potatoeswithoutborders.com/2025/09/11/record-breaking-edition-of-potatoeurope-netherlands-2025-the-international-potato-world-gathers-in-lelystad/
Potato News Today – New spuds on the block battle major pest in Kenya (Aug 22, 2025): https://potatoeswithoutborders.com/2025/08/22/new-spuds-on-the-block-battle-major-pest-in-kenya/
Potato News Today – New PCN-resistant potato varieties mark a milestone in Kenya’s fight against soil-borne pests and support regional food security (Sep 28, 2025): https://potatoeswithoutborders.com/2025/09/28/new-pcn-resistant-potato-varieties-mark-a-milestone-in-kenyas-fight-against-soil-borne-pests-and-support-regional-food-security/
Potato News Today – U.S. seed potato exports on the rise: Potatoes USA highlights growth and market access gains (Oct 3, 2025): https://potatoeswithoutborders.com/2025/10/03/u-s-seed-potato-exports-on-the-rise-potatoes-usa-highlights-growth-and-market-access-gains/
Potato News Today – Brazil and the Netherlands strengthen cooperation ties in the seed sector (Nov 20, 2025): https://potatoeswithoutborders.com/2025/11/20/brazil-and-the-netherlands-strengthen-cooperation-ties-in-the-seed-sector/
Agristo launches major U.S. expansion with Grand Forks potato plant (Sep 26, 2025): https://www.potatopro.com/news/2025/agristo-launches-major-us-expansion-grand-forks-potato-plant
Grand Forks Herald – Grand Forks-area farmers excited for Agristo to put a “spark” back in potato business (Dec 6, 2025): https://www.grandforksherald.com/business/grand-forks-area-farmers-excited-for-agristo-to-put-a-spark-back-in-potato-business
Potato Sustainability Alliance – PSA opens 2025 on-farm assessment October 1 (Oct 6, 2025): https://potatosustainability.org/potato-sustainability-alliance-opens-2025-on-farm-assessment-october-1/
Government of Canada (CFIA) – New National Potato Wart Response Plan ready for 2025 potato crop (Mar 13, 2025): https://www.canada.ca/en/food-inspection-agency/news/2025/03/new-national-potato-wart-response-plan-ready-for-2025-potato-crop.html
PepsiCo Canada – PepsiCo plans to nearly double its regenerative farmland in Canada (Nov 3, 2025): https://pepsico.ca/our-stories/story/pepsico-plans-to-nearly-double-its-regenerative-farmland-in-canada
McCain Foods – McCain Foods to invest R$ 1.8 billion in major expansion of Araxá (MG) facility (Oct 29, 2025): https://www.mccain.com/information-centre/news/mccain-foods-to-invest-r-18-billion-in-major-expansion-of-arax%C3%A1-mg-facility/
Lamb Weston – Lamb Weston opens new Mar del Plata, Argentina production facility (Oct 7, 2025): https://news.lambweston.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lamb-weston-opens-new-mar-del-plata-argentina-production
Farm Frites / Invest Victoria – Farm Frites chooses Victoria for its AUD 300 million APAC HQ and manufacturing facility (Nov 2025): https://www.invest.vic.gov.au/news-and-events/news/2025/november/global-food-giant-farm-frites-chooses-victoria-for-its-%24300-million-apac-hq-and-manufacturing-facility
Potatoes New Zealand – Potato Seed Co-operative wins innovation award for processing technology (Aug 14, 2025): https://potatoesnz.co.nz/news-info/articles/potato-seed-co-operative-wins-innovation-award-for-processing-technology/
Calbee (Press Release PDF) – Calbee to begin operations at Setouchi Hiroshima Factory (Jan 6, 2025): https://www.calbee.co.jp/en/news/pdf/138-58781.pdf
Government of India (PIB) – Cabinet approves establishment of CIP’s South Asia Regional Centre at Agra (Jun 25, 2025): https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2139497
International Potato Center (CIP) – CIP announces launch of South Asia Regional Centre in Agra (Jun 27, 2025): https://cipotato.org/pressreleases/cip-announces-launch-south-asia-regional-centre-agra/
Aviko / PotatoPro – Aviko begins new expansion phase at potato dehy factory in Gansu, China (Dec 21, 2025): https://www.potatopro.com/news/2025/aviko-begins-new-expansion-phase-potato-dehy-factory-gansu-china
Clarebout / Potato Business – Clarebout to establish French fries factory in Beijing (Jul 21, 2025): https://www.potatobusiness.com/business-news/clarebout-to-establish-french-fries-factory-in-beijing/
Simplot – Simplot completes acquisition of Clarebout Group (Oct 31, 2025): https://www.simplot.com/company/news/simplot-completes-acquisition-of-clarebout-group
Royal Avebe – Royal Avebe strengthens market position with acquisition of Solan (Aug 19, 2025): https://www.avebe.com/news/royal-avebe-strengthens-market-position-with-acquisition-of-solan/
Royal Avebe – Start of potato campaign 2025: first potatoes delivered in Gasselternijveen (Aug 21, 2025): https://www.avebe.com/news/corporate/start-of-potato-campaign-2025-first-potatoes-delivered-in-gasselternijveen/
PotatoEurope (Press Release PDF) – Record-breaking edition of PotatoEurope Netherlands 2025: 17,268 visitors from 107 countries (Sep 5, 2025): https://media-01.imu.nl/storage/potatoeurope.nl/30929/press-release-potatoeurope-wrap-up_05092025.pdf
James Hutton Institute – Transforming potato industry waste into valuable ingredients for pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries (Dec 4, 2025): https://www.hutton.ac.uk/transforming-potato-industry-waste-into-valuable-ingredients-for-the-pharmaceutical-and-cosmetics-industries/
James Hutton Institute – Potatoes bred at The James Hutton Institute will help to battle major pest in Kenya (Aug 22, 2025): https://www.hutton.ac.uk/potatoes-bred-at-the-james-hutton-institute-will-help-to-battle-major-pest-in-kenya/
Rwanda seed catalogue / PotatoPro – Rwanda emerges as regional hub for quality seed potato production (May 2025): https://www.potatopro.com/news/2025/rwanda-emerges-regional-hub-quality-seed-potato-production
CIP – Rwanda potato variety description guide webinar / catalogue launch (Jul 24, 2025): https://cipotato.org/event/rwanda-potato-variety-description-guide-webinar/
Uganda NARO – NARO hands over potato varieties to boost local production (Sep 23, 2025): https://news.naro.go.ug/2025/09/23/naro-hands-over-potato-varieties-to-boost-local-production/
Potatoes South Africa / PotatoPro – The South African potato industry: tour and innovation symposium impressions, by WPC President (Aug 4, 2025): https://www.potatopro.com/news/2025/south-african-potato-industry-tour-and-innovation-symposium-impressions-wpc-president
World Potato Congress – WPC and Kenyan hosts launch logistics for WPC 2026 (Jul 14, 2025): https://potatocongress.org/world-potato-congress-and-kenyan-hosts-launch-logistics-for-the-13th-world-potato-congress-wpc-2026/
Ukraine processing (industry coverage) / PotatoPro – Construction of a new potato processing plant in Ukraine has started (Nov 5, 2025): https://www.potatopro.com/news/2025/construction-new-potato-processing-plant-ukraine-has-started
Nigeria (capacity-building) / Delphy – Cooperation agreement with the Government of Plateau State, Nigeria: Potato Centre of Excellence (Sep 16, 2025): https://delphy.nl/en/cooperation-agreement-with-the-government-of-plateau-state-nigeria-fruits-and-veggies-global-limited/
Author: Lukie Pieterse, Potato News Today
Image: Credit Henry Gartley from Pixabay