“The new segmentation will try to inform the buyer about the product"

Roberto Ruiz (left) from CIP and Benoist Leforestier from CNIPT

The marked drop in fresh potato consumption in both countries has led to collaboration between the two organisations with the aim of dynamising the situation.

The close relationship between French production and the Spanish market, (France is Spain’s main potato supplier with annual sales of around 650,000 tonnes) has led the organisations in both countries to work jointly on a study which is to come out in June.

According to Roberto Ruiz, president of CIP (Iberian Club of Potato Professionals), “we want to know the consumer’s perspective on the potato so we can adapt the supply to consumer expectations. With the results of the study we will attempt a joint reflection on the situation with wholesalers and reach consensus agreements.

In addition to the study, the French CNIPT (French Interprofessional Potato Association) has already put a proposal on the table for a new segmentation not based on culinary qualities. “Now we are looking for a segmentation which can communicate knowledge of the product to the consumer. “For example, consumers should know that if they want a potato for frying, then it needs to have a percentage of dry material to be any good.”

French consultants Adrien Stratégie have presented new proposals for another type of product classification. The following classifications are being considered for the new segmentations. “Pommes de terre des terroirs”, “pommes de terre des champs” and “pommes de terre des villes.” It is thought that for the consumer this type of classification could be particularly significant because the potato is very closely linked to the land, to geographical origin.

In Spain, there is already an awareness of geographical origin, for example with the famous potatoes from Galicia. In this regard, Roberto Ruiz claims that “the attraction of the potato does not lie in the fact that it comes from Galicia, but in the inherent qualities of the Kennebec variety, although in general the public aren’t aware of this”.

CIP also has short and medium term objectives such as: transferring professional factors to production, participating in the conciliation of different European quality standards, applying to participate in Fepex and creating a Sectoral Table at state level.