According to the latest stock estimate from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), almost half of the Scottish potato crop was still in grower-held stores at the end of January.
The total volume of potatoes in British grower’s stores was 2.11 million tonnes, or 39 per cent of total production. According to AHDB this is 47,400 tonnes lower than in the figure for the previous year, but still 40,860 tonnes higher than the five-year average. However, despite the high figure some 61 per cent of these stocks are already sold, either on pre-season contracts or as a forward sales.
Scotland accounted for 29 per cent (608700 tonnes) of what remained in grower ownership at the end of January. This represents almost half of total Scottish potato production still in store and more than at the same point last year.
Senior Analyst for Potatoes at AHDB Alice Bailey commented, “While there was a slight uplift in production in Scotland, much of the Scottish area is grown for seed production. Therefore, slower seed sales may account for some of this volume. There have been reports that many growers delayed their seed orders this year whilst deciding what to plant, seemingly awaiting some positive news for the industry as the coronavirus story pans out.”
AHDB also said that potatoes have seen strong sales at supermarkets in the last quarter, with volume up 13.9 per cent year-on-year according to Kantar. Meanwhile there is hope that a summer with fewer restrictions on hospitality businesses and a UK ‘staycation’ boom could drive late-season demand.