Heatwave triggers potato shortage in Europe

Europe is facing a potato shortage that could mean smaller, more expensive chips after heatwaves over the summer baked fields and stunted crop growth.

The extreme weather wiped out about 3.1mn tonnes of potatoes, worth between €400mn and €620mn, according to analysis by the non-profit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. That is in addition to roughly 3.6mn tonnes that were not grown this year after a bumper harvest in 2025.

“We’ve gone from a record high to a record low in one year, if [the estimates] materialise,” said Craig Elliott, market analyst for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at commodity price information service Expana. “It’s potato drama.”

Last year’s glut sent prices crashing, marking a rapid reversal even for a crop that is prone to cycles of boom and bust.

Production in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands — Europe’s main potato-growing countries — is forecast by ECIU to fall from a record 27.3mn tonnes in 2025 to between 19.5mn and 20.5mn tonnes this year.

Last year’s glut drove a benchmark Belgian potato price to nearly zero. Growers dumped unwanted potatoes, gave them away, burned them or fed them to cattle. A new US tariff and rising Asian competition also squeezed Europe’s exports of frozen fries, prompting farmers to plant less.