This article explores how the shift from old energy – coal, oil, gas – to new energy – wind, solar, biomass, biogas – is reshaping the potato industry from field to fryer. It explains how fossil fuel dependence drives fertilizer, irrigation, storage and processing costs, and highlights examples of renewables and efficiency upgrades that cut risk, emissions and volatility while strengthening resilience and competitiveness across the global potato supply chain.
French fry exports from EU-27 countries fell 5% in September 2025, totaling 148,500 tonnes, attributing significant drops to the UK and Asian markets. Conversely, African exports increased by 30%. Price pressure intensified; the average cost declined to €1,115 per tonne, a 10% drop. Notably, France saw a 12% export increase due to higher production capacity, while Belgium’s figures fell 5.8% over the year.
This article explores what happens to potatoes after the last trailer leaves the field and why post-harvest storage is now one of the industry’s most critical disciplines. It unpacks early priorities around heat and moisture, curing, airflow, temperature and hygiene, before turning to hotspot management, changing sprout control options, people and safety, and the growing role of digital tools – all aimed at protecting yield quietly sitting in the store.
This feature explores how farmer mindset is becoming a decisive yield driver in modern potato systems, alongside soil, climate and genetics. It shows how curiosity, small experiments, data use, collaboration and a healthier relationship with failure help growers adapt to volatility and hand farms to the next generation. By linking head, heart and hectares, it argues that inner resilience is now as critical as agronomy for long-term success.
The 58th annual Idaho Potato Conference will take place on January 21-22 at Idaho State University, focusing on water management and soilborne diseases. The event attracts industry professionals and features over 70 vendors. Key presentations will include updates from various potato organizations and sessions led by new University of Idaho faculty on water-related research. A mini-symposium on soilborne diseases is also scheduled.
This feature explores how potato growers worldwide are quietly adopting digital tools – from yield maps and late blight decision support to smart storage sensors and emerging AI analytics. Rather than replacing intuition, these systems act as a second opinion, sharpening decisions in fields and storages while highlighting real barriers like connectivity, cost and data ownership. The result is a gradual, global shift from gut feel to good data, with farmer judgement still in charge.
IndexBox’s latest report shows the European Union frozen potato market continuing to grow steadily through 2035, with modest volume gains but stronger value growth driven by higher prices. Germany, France and the Netherlands lead consumption, while Belgium and the Netherlands dominate production and exports. Romania emerges as the fastest-growing market. Trade volumes remain high and both import and export prices hit record levels in 2024, with further increases expected.
Potatoes may look like a simple side dish on the Thanksgiving table, but they carry a much larger story. This reflective piece traces the journey from field and storage to the bowl of mash at the centre of the meal, exploring tradition, comfort, affordability and labour along the way. It argues that potatoes quietly hold the plate – and often the family – together, embodying resilience, continuity and everyday gratitude.
A new review in the journal Foods by a team of Chinese scientists maps the global potato-processing industry through a Chinese lens. It contrasts high-processing regions in Europe and North America with China’s fast-growing but still underdeveloped sector. The authors detail product streams, technology gaps, sustainability pressures and policy drivers, arguing that automation, branding and greener processing will decide who captures future value in fries, chips, flakes and starch.
Heat, humidity and shifting weather patterns are reshaping the pest and disease risk map for potatoes. Warmer seasons mean more insect generations, changing late and early blight windows, and the spread of “southern” threats like zebra chip, tuber moth and bacterial wilt into new regions. The article explores how these pressures collide in fields and storages, and how growers are adapting with scouting, varieties, storage design and climate risk management.
Potato growers face intense uncertainty from markets, climate, policy and emotional strain, yet they keep showing up season after season. This reflective essay explores how potatoes act as an anchor in a shifting world, how growers manage risk, lean on community and quietly redraw the lines they can no longer hold. It highlights the quiet courage of staying grounded, protecting core values and carrying on with integrity through hard years.
This feature takes a grounded look at what Canada’s potato industry could look like by 2040, drawing on current data, climate models, technology pipelines and market signals. It explores climate adaptation, breeding for resilience, smarter automation on farms and in storages, and diversification into new food and industrial markets. The piece highlights which decisions around water, R&D, carbon, contracts and skills in the 2020s will most directly shape those futures.
Potato growers are often seen as lagging behind corn and soybean farmers on climate-smart practices, yet the reality is more complex. This feature compares adoption trends across major potato regions, from North America and Europe to Asia, Africa and Latin America, and unpacks the structural, market and agronomic reasons behind the perceived gap. It highlights emerging leaders, processor and retailer pressure, and where potatoes may actually be ahead on resilience.
Mordor Intelligence’s new Potato Market Size & Share Analysis – Growth Trends and Forecast (2025 – 2030) values the global potato commodity market at USD 120 billion in 2025, rising to about USD 145 billion by 2030. The study highlights steady, processing-led growth, with Asia-Pacific as the largest market and Africa the fastest-growing. Contract farming, climate-smart breeding, improved storage and emerging industrial uses for potato by-products all shape the market’s trajectory.