GB Potatoes at the 2025 Europatat Congress

Alex Godfrey – Chair, GB Potatoes

GB Potatoes became an associate member of Europatat – the European Potato Trade Association – last year, so its 2025 Congress, which has taken place this week in Lille, has provided the first chance to see at close quarters the work carried out, and a good opportunity to meet key players in the European potato trade.  Most members are trading companies or trade associations, but other wider industry bodies like GB Potatoes are also well represented.

The work is impressive.  Some of it, naturally, is EU-centric, but that will be as relevant to us as ever in the coming years, so membership of Europatat is a great way to make sure we are aware of new developments.

We heard about current and emerging threats to potato production.  Wireworm, of course, is all too familiar, but many central and eastern European countries are now having to learn to deal with Stolbur, a bacterial tuber wilt that has a significant effect on fry colours.  The pathology is not yet properly understood, but it’s good to know that work is underway.

Part of the EU Commission’s Vision for Agriculture is a focus on biopesticides.  There’s clearly some way to go, though, as while we were told that biological control now accounts for 10% of the EU Crop Protection market, product registration takes 5-10 years, compared to 2-3 years in most of the rest of the world.  I was quite impressed though, that there are companies working on biological controls for late blight – which must surely be a big hill to climb.  They were honest that they won’t provide a complete solution, but it’s definitely a case of watch this space.

I was struck that the sustainability conversation at the Congress, and in the EU more generally, is couched in terms of “Sustainable Development” and is structured around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.  Of course this included environmental sustainability, but it is potentially a much more constructive way of looking at sustainability than we have become accustomed to in the UK – it must go hand in hand with development.

Resumption of the EU-GB seed trade is a key objective of Europatat, and it’s great that they are keeping up the pressure on the EU Commission.  With the new SPS agreement between the UK and the EU in the process of being worked out there was more optimism than there has been for a while, though the timetable for resumption of trade is not certain.

Of course, consumption was a key topic of conversation.  We’re not unique in the UK in facing a long term decline in the consumption of, in particular, fresh potatoes.  In fact until 2015 Ireland was experiencing declines of 15% per year – a rate that would have seen the size of the industry by 2025 falling to unsustainable levels.  Since 2015 Ireland has been involved in three EU co-funded promotional campaigns (the first in conjunction with the UK) which have arrested and partially reversed this decline in consumption.  We heard from two of the current campaigns about the work they are doing aimed at promoting the sustainable credentials of potatoes in France and Italy, and aimed at millennials in France, Spain and Ireland, aimed at positioning potatoes as a trendy, international food.  This is impressive work and I’m sure there are lessons we can take from it.

I’ve come away with a really positive flavour of the work being done on behalf of the industry, and a new network of contacts that I intend to use for the benefit of our members – it was a really professional, well organised event which does credit to our industry.