Comines (France) (AFP)

"At this time, normally, I have nothing left," blows Christophe Delebarre, potato producer in Pas-de-Calais, in front of the 150 tonnes of unsold goods in his hangar. Since the closure of restaurants to fight the coronavirus, the consumption of fries has dropped in France and farmers are struggling to sell their stocks.

Friday, 5 p.m. Individuals flock to Emmanuel Leclercq's farm in Comines (North), on the Belgian border, to buy kilos of potatoes at 21 or 40 cents.

"To sell our production, we are advised to feed them to the animals, but I don't plant potatoes for animals!" Annoys the farmer. So, since May 1, he has set up a drive.

Supplier of Belgian companies, he sums up the situation: "Our contracts with manufacturers have been honored. Except that each year, we have a production surplus, of around 20%, which usually also finds takers with the But this year, if there is no sale of fries, the manufacturers have no outlets and will therefore not buy this surplus. We are therefore left with tons of potatoes on our hands and no one has a solution ".

Since the opening of his drive, Mr. Leclercq has sold "a dozen tonnes", but he still has 150 left. "We can never sell large tonnages to individuals, but it's better than nothing", he relativizes.

"Marketing by producers directly to individuals could not even sell 5% of stocks, the bottom problem remains", deplores Bertrand Achte, secretary general of the National Union of potato producers and president of the Grouping of producers delivering McCain (Gappi).

- "200 million euros in losses" -

In the McCain factories, European leader in deep-fried fries, the lines intended for fries are almost all stopped - "a line continues to run in Harnes (Pas-de-Calais) to supply supermarkets", explains Christian Vanderheyden, director of supplies.

The company works with 990 producers in France, including more than 700 in Hauts-de-France, the leading producing region. Each year, she buys 950,000 tonnes of potatoes from them, down from 100,000 less this year, according to Mr. Achte.

"As soon as out-of-home catering, which accounts for 70% of our activities, stopped, sales collapsed," says Mr. Vanderheyden, also president of the Interprofessional Grouping for Potato Development (GIPT). ). Admittedly, "the sales in supermarket increased, but that did not compensate for the remainder".

"Fries are mainly eaten outside the home, many families today do not even have fryers anymore!", Adds Bertrand Achte, who estimates losses for the sector at 200 million euros.

- "Resold for zero euro" -

Vanderheyden said 450,000 tonnes of potatoes that should have been processed will not be processed this year. Among which, 200,000 were intended for French industries, of which McCain for more than half.

So even the industry must find solutions to sell the goods purchased from farmers. "We have already sold 60,000 tonnes for animal feed, but this is at a loss: the contracts with farmers are on a basis of 150 euros per tonne and there we sell at zero euros ... in addition we must take care of transportation. "

For Bertrand Achte, "if we do not want to see the potatoes rot", the State must put 35 million euros on the table to pay in particular for the transport of unsold goods to the animal sector and methanation.

Especially since the producers also record unusual storage costs. "We consume more electricity in particular to keep the potatoes marketable," says Mr. Delebarre producer in Richebourg (Pas-de-Calais) who estimates his losses for the year between "25,000 and 30,000 euros".

To adapt to the market, the farmer has already replaced 10% of his potato plantations with corn for the next season.

© 2020 AFP