No. 75 COMMISSION of the EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES E Information on Agriculture
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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Information on agriculture Potato products: Production and Markets in the European Communities •••~ ••• No. 75 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES E Information on agriculture Potato products: Production and Markets in the European Communities •••~ ••• Manuscript finished in June 1980. No. 75 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR AGRICULTURE Directorate General matters- Division "Reports, studies, statistics and documentation" A bibliographical slip can be found at the end of this volume Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1981 ISBN 92-825-2230-X Catalogue number: CB-NA-80-075-EN-C © ECSC- EEC- EAEC, Brussels • Luxembourg, 1981 Printed in Belgium Reproduction authorized, in whole or in part, provided the source is acknowledged. FOREWORD This study has been undertaken in the framework of the study programme of the Directorate General of Agriculture of the Commission of the European Communities. The report was prepared by N.A. YOUNG, Research officer at the Centre for European Agriculture studies of Wye College (University of London),Ashford Kent - England. The Division "Tobacco, hops, potatoes and other specialized crops" and the Division "Reports, studies, statistical information, documentation" of the Directorate-General for Agriculture participated in the work. Original Language English The present study does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission of the European Communities in this area and in no way anticipates the Commission's future attitude towards this matter. PREFACE In 1975, when the Centre for European Agricultural Studies began its research into the EEC potato sector, we were inevitably confronted with the insular attitudes held by people working in this sector and by the lack of understanding of each other's marketing systems. Thus sadly, as is so often the case, important misconceptions about the EEC potato industry were rife. It is easy to understand why such a situation prevailed. Historically, within Europe, trade in fresh potatoes has been fairly modest with most temperate countries exhibiting high levels of self-sufficiency, largely because of the high cost of transporting potatoes. There was no common organisation of the potato industry within the EEC and a number of countries had maintained national policies to support and protect their own potato producers. Consequently, for some countries there was little need to show interest in circumstances outside their national borders. Today, several years on, some progress has been made towards a more integrated Community market. This has largely resulted from the Charmasson judgment which led to France and eventually the United Kingdom removing quantitative restrictions on trade. However, it is more difficult to provide evidence that there exists greater mutual understanding between Member States as the stalemate in the negotiations for a common organisa tion of the potato market witnesses. We suspect that there has been some progress towards understanding and we hope to have played a small part in the process through the publication of the results of our research on potato marketing systems1. In the same way this report sets out to make a positive contribution to the understanding of a relatively new and fast developing part of the potato sector. The potato processor is an indispensable partner in the European potato sector and his importance will continue to grow. With this development comes the challenge of coping with new relationships in the industry and the difficulties of adjusting to new circumstances. However, in a potato sector which is faced with stagnant if not contracting demand for fresh ware potatoes in most Member States of the European Community the development of this part of the industry represents a major challenge. 1 Young, N.A., The Dutch Ware Potato Marketing System, 1977. Young, N.A., The French Maincrop Potato Marketing System, 1978. Smith, P.E. and Young, N.A., The West German Potato Marketing System, 1979. New areas where future study can contribute to greater understanding of the prospects of the EEC potato industry are suggested in the report and highest priority must go to assessing the nature of long-term competition from potato products manufactured in North America and Eastern Europe. The report has been written by Nick Young. Assistance was given in compiling the United Kingdom report by Pat Smith, who visited processors in that country. The report has been typed by Sandra Bland, Delia Copland and Jean Rolph. The author wishes to acknowledge the help of many people throughout the potato processing industry of the European Communities in the compilation of this report. A large number (too many to mention personally) gave a generous amount of their time in discussing the problems of the sector. Particular thanks are due to the Union Europeenne des Industries de Transformation de la Pomme de terre (UEITP) and their secretary, Mr. Cleophas, for his patient encouragement. I.G. Reid, Director, Centre for European Agricultural Studies. CONTENTS THE MANUFACTURE OF POTATO PRODUCTS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES INTRODUCTION 1 SECTION I: THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY 3 SECTION II: PROCESSED POTATO PRODUCTS 9 Dehydrated products 9 Snack products 11 Fried non-snack products 12 Non-fried frozen products 12 Preserves 12 Other products 13 SECTION III: POTATO QUALITY AND PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS 15 The potato 15 Potato qualities which are important to processors 16 The control of potato quality 17 SECTION IV: IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE BUSINESS 27 THE CRISP MANUFACTURER 28 Raw material procurement 29 The manufacturing process 36 Marketing considerations 40 THE MANUFACTURER OF DEHYDRATED POTATO PRODUCTS 42 (a) GRANULES AND FLAKES 42 Raw material procurement 42 The manufacturing process 46 Marketing considerations 51 Page SECTION IV: (contd.) .. .. (b) DEHYDRATED POTATOES, KLOSSE AND KNODEL 54 The manufacturing process 54 Marketing considerations 56 THE MANUFACTURER OF FRENCH FRIES AND OTHER FRIED NON-SNACK PRODUCTS 57 Raw material procurement 58 The manufacturing process 63 Marketing considerations 66 THE MANUFACTURER OF PRESERVED POTATO PRODUCTS 68 Raw material procurement 68 The manufacturing process 69 Marketing considerations 69 SECTION V: THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRIES OF THE NINE MEMBER STATES 71 Introduction 71 (i) THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF THE NETHERLANDS 74 THE POTATO SECTOR 74 THE MANUFACTURE OF POTATO PRODUCTS 76 Historical development 76 The industry today: utilisation of potatoes, structure and location 80 The potato marketing system and raw material supplies 83 External trade 86 Demand 92 Institutional factors 93 (ii) THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF WEST GERMANY 96 THE POTATO SECTOR 96 THE MANUFACTURE OF POTATO PRODUCTS 98 Historical development 98 The industry today: utilisation of potatoes, structure and location 103 The potato marketing system and raw material supplies 105 External trade 110 Demand 114 Institutional factors 115 Page SECTION V: (contd.) (iii) THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF FRANCE 117 THE POTATO SECTOR 117 THE MANUFACTURE OF POTATO PRODUCTS 121 Historical development 121 The industry today: utilisation of potatoes, structure and location 125 The potato marketing system and raw material supplies 126 External trade 129 Demand 129 Institutional factors 131 (iv) THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM 136 THE POTATO SECTOR 136 THE MANUFACTURE OF POTATO PRODUCTS 139 Historical development 139 The industry today: utilisation of potatoes, structure and location 143 The potato marketing system and raw material supplies 147 External trade 153 Demand 155 Institutional factors 158 (v) THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF IRELAND 161 The potato sector 161 The manufacture of potato products 162 (vi) THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF BELGIUM 169 The potato sector 169 The manufacture of potato products 171 (vii) THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF ITALY 176 The potato sector 176 The manufacture of potato products 177 (viii) THE POTATO PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF DENMARK 183 The potato sector 183 The manufacture of potato products 185 SECTION VI: COMMUNITY ISSUES 191 BIBLIOGRAPHY 197 APPENDIX I: THE LOCATION OF MANUFACTURING PLANTS 201 APPENDIX II: GLOSSARY 209 INTRODUCTION The main aim of this report has been to provide an account of the development of the potato processing industry, its relationship to the potato production sector and its major problems and difficulties. According to our brief, our coverage of the potato processing industry has excluded the manufacture of industrial products such as starch and alcohol and the dehydration of potatoes for animal feed. It has also excluded any consideration of businesses concerned only with the prepara tion of potatoes by peeling alone and the manufacture of potato flour. This report was written to provide the Commission of the European Communities with an outline of the way in which the potato processing industry operates so that it might have a full appreciation of the nature of the industry and its likely influence on the development of the potato sector. It would have been fairly easy to have set out on a full scale postal or interview survey of potato processors in order to collect basic data about the industry and about the individual firms in that industry. However, the author's experience of potato marketing systems suggested that such a formal approach would neither provide all the information