Reuters: analysts predict a rise in the price of french fries in Europe due to drought

Europe’s record high summer temperatures and drought are predicted to lead to the lowest potato harvest in years, which could push the price of French fries higher. Reuters citing World Potato Markets research.

Extreme weather in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium, which account for the bulk of EU potato production, could lead to record low crops, analysts said. Experts expect potato production to drop even below the dry 2018 levels.

“It will be expensive for the industry, for the consumer, but the biggest cost will be for farmers,” Christophe Vermeulen, chief executive of the Belgian industrial group Belgapom, told the agency. He expects the country’s harvest could fall by 30%.

Farmer Erich Hussen from the German city of Jülich said he expects up to half of his crop to die this year, and the rains will not fix this. “Nothing will grow here,” he said.

Pascal Willaert, co-manager of Maison Antoine, one of Brussels’ best-known fast food outlets that sells the famous Belgian fries, says reduced availability of quality fries is likely to push prices up further.

“It is too early to say how much, but what is certain is that it is unlikely that there will be a downward trend in prices,” he said. Its fast food outlets have already raised prices by about 10% this year due to energy costs.

Formerly The Wall Street Journal reportedthat a record heat wave in Spain, the largest olive oil producer, is likely to affect the country’s olive oil production, push prices up and threaten further food inflation.

Also edition wrote about problems with the coffee harvest in Brazil, which could raise the cost of a cup of this drink. The low harvest, the newspaper notes, could exacerbate the shortage of international supplies and contribute to a new rise in prices.

In August, Bloomberg reported that California’s worst drought in 1,200 years and rising fuel and fertilizer prices pushed up the price of tomatoes, tomato paste and ketchup in the US. Water scarcity is reducing output in a region that accounts for a quarter of the world’s processed tomato production.