DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5
Supply Chain

Coronavirus: A Recipe For Disaster For German Potatoes

By Dayeeta Das
Share this article
Coronavirus: A Recipe For Disaster For German Potatoes

German demand for potatoes and potato products has collapsed during the coronavirus crisis, meaning the vegetable is being used as animal feed or for making biogas instead, an industry body has said.

There had been a 'catastrophic reduction in sales' of frozen, chilled and dry potato products, the BOGK or Bundesverband der obst-, gemüse- und kartoffelverarbeitenden Industrie e.V (German Association of the Fruit, Vegetable and Potato Processing Industry) said.

Biggest Producer In The EU

Germany is the biggest producer of potatoes in the European Union and a huge consumer.

"Several hundred thousand tonnes of processing potatoes could not be used," BOGK chief executive, Horst-Peter Karos, said.

“Valuable food must be used for animal feed, biogas production or disposed of in other ways", causing the industry millions of euros in losses.

ADVERTISEMENT

Aid From The Government

Karos said the potato-processing industry needed aid from the government under its economic recovery programme.

Although German restaurants have reopened, large numbers of restaurant bankruptcies are expected while demand from large events and exports is not expected to recover quickly, it said.

News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.