Producers and consumers are almost being robbed in the Belgian potato market

Belgium's potato sector is facing significant issues, with seven large companies dominating the market and increasing profits, which are coming at a cost to producers and consumers. These companies control 90% of the Belgian potato market, with a turnover that increased by 44% to 3.4 billion euros between 2021 and 2022. This increase in profits has led to a surge in potato prices, with consumers experiencing a 61% increase since 2015 and a significant price hike for frozen potatoes in 2022. Greenpeace has highlighted these imbalances and the negative impact on growers.

There are fundamental problems in the potato sector in Belgium, where 7 large companies are reaping the benefits to the detriment of producers and consumers. Potato cultivation is one of the main branches of Belgian agriculture. While in Hungary we harvested approximately 216,000 tons of potatoes from roughly 7,500 hectares in 2023, the annual production in Belgium amounts to 4–4.5 million tons. The Western European country belonging to the Benelux states is thus one of the biggest players in this field not only on our continent, but also in the whole world. The high-quality soil and the ideal climate make Belgium and its neighbors the most important potato producers in Europe, where we can also find an extraordinary wealth of varieties and outstanding yield averages. Three-quarters of Belgian potatoes are sold in the Netherlands, but they also go to France and Germany, of course, in addition to supplying the domestic market. Two-thirds of the seed potatoes are bought from them by ...