Europe has a surplus of five million metric tonnes of potatoes used for French fries. The price of a metric ton of potatoes remained at zero in Belgium, the biggest exporter of frozen French fries. There has been a drastic change of scene. It was 600 euros ($ 690) three years ago.
People’s buying habits of potatos differ from that of A A Milne’,s take. He said ” What I say is – if a fellow likes potatoes he must be a decent dort if a fellow.,’.The year 2026 is marked by a great potato glut. There are meteorological and geopolitical factors behind this.
Good weather produced the biggest potato harvest in eight years. The farmers are struggling to sell their produce as it came at a time when US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs hit their exports and the new competitors from Asia took the market share.
More recently the war in Iran has pushed the price of energy and fertiliser. It made the consumers cut back which shrunk the already thin profit margin. In Germany, another potato producer, a farmer with 4000 tons of unwanted potatoes arranged a giveaway in Berlin. Locals refer to it as ” Kartoffel-Flut” or potato flood. But nowhere is the mismatch in potato supply and demand is as acutely felt than in Belgium.
Frites are a national symbol.And Friteries- stuffed what the French speaking Belgians call the cardboard cones stuffed with fries,- are ubiquitous in public squares across the country. Belgians smother frites in a variety of elaborate sauces. Belgium exported $ 3.3 billion cooked, frozen potatoes in 2025, nearly triple the amount a decade ago, according to European Union’s statistics agency.
The war in Iran is the latest strain the supply of frozen fries. Higher energy cost make refrigeration and transport more expensive. High cost of fertilisers have added to the cost of farming while ships carrying fertiliser ingredients unable to exit the Persian Gulf because of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The blockade has made export difficult to the countries like Quatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. These are all major French fry consumers. Nearer home, rising inflation has made made most Europeans think twice before going to restaurants where most fries are consumed.
United States is the second biggest market market of French fries. But tariff has made European fries more expensive. Export of frozen fries from EU to US were down to 8 per cent over the past 12 months ending in February ’26.
