Belgian Farmers Dump Potatoes as Surplus Crisis Hits French Fry Capital
By
Jenny Gross
More flour than flavour. There's a bagel in here, just not much of one.
Summary
Belgian farmers are dumping millions of tons of potatoes back into their fields due to a massive surplus crisis. A record harvest in Belgium coincided with U.S. tariffs reducing demand for frozen fries and increased competition from Asian suppliers. Farmers like Kris D'haeyere are forced to dispose of potatoes at a loss, with prices dropping to just a couple of euros per ton on the spot market.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledA thousand tons of potatoes were stacked 15 feet high in a warehouse on Kris D'haeyere's farm for months.
Even though he offered to sell them for just a couple of euros per ton, no one wanted to buy them.
So Mr. D'haeyere did the unthinkable: This month, he dumped the crop back into his fields in eastern Belgium, the cheapest way to dispose of enough potatoes to make 200 million French fries.
Other farmers are doing the same, as Europe faces a surplus of five million metric tons of the type of potato used for fries.
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