The CEO of the National Potato Council says he’s optimistic trade discussions between the U.S. and Japan will benefit U.S. potato growers.
Kam Quarles tells Brownfield the potato industry has been trying to get fresh potato market access into Japan for many years.
“The opportunity is estimated at $150 million each year in new U.S. agriculture exports for fresh tablestock potatoes.”
He says politics have been a non-tariff trade barrier with Japan. Japanese and U.S. trade officials met recently and are expected to meet again soon. Quarles says that’s a good sign.
“Obviously the tariff situation overall has generated a lot of volatility, chaos and questions, but one thing it’s also generated is some leverage.”
Quarles says as the U.S. meets with other countries, like Vietnam and Thailand, the U.S. potato industry would like to see tariff benefits from the Trans-Pacific Partnership restored.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Potatoes have experienced exceptional growth in demand over the past decade, particularly frozen potatoes. While we might be entering a new normal, the demand trend is not reversing. Reported volumes for potatoes grown and sold in the United States are up 16% since 2014 and up 6% since 2019. This reflects an undeniable change in consumer behavior that has been positive toward potatoes and potato products resulting in remarkable opportunities for growers, processors and importers.
The U.S. potato market is strong. It’s so strong, in fact, that international companies are in the early process of building new processing capacity in the United States. This includes companies from Belgium, France, and India that we know of today. The increased processing capacity should rebalance imports over time, which have more than doubled over the past decade while U.S. consumption outpaced supplies – especially for many frozen products. In the future, U.S. farmers should have more opportunities to use American-grown potatoes to help meet the demand these companies previously filled with potatoes from other parts of the world. Any trade deal would be like the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae!
With potato growers experiencing this type of growth and market strength, be sure to put them at the top of that customer prospect list. Also, make sure your inventory is on AgTruckTrader.com® for maximum visibility to all farmers/ranchers in your area!
