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Different sources consulted by this magazine concur, “In Spanish kitchens, differentiating potatoes according to their use is not common practice in spite of the way they are sold in large supermarkets. “It is rare to find customers buying two bags of potatoes each for a different use, which really implies that they are ready to use the same variety for frying or boiling” comments one fruit and vegetable Manager for a Spanish retail chain.

France, the leading country in potato, created the segmentation concept: specify the usage of a product to give it added value. Although usage differentiation has been introduced and consolidated in countries that have a more established potato tradition, Spain as the largest client for the French crop – (importing 650,000 tonnes) – has still not managed to take this concept on board.

Here, like in other countries, potato has enjoyed little prestige as a product as such, often being regarded as the food of the poor. However, it has been a fundamental ingredient of the Spanish diet for decades, in spite of the fact that recently it is has been venturing out in new directions. “One type of segmentation that has had more success has been that of segmenting according to source and it is true that potatoes from Prades are highly appreciated or the Galician cachelo (the Kennebec variety)”, affirm these same sources.

France was also the country that made washed potatoes fashionable. It is this aspect that has been partly responsible for the large volumes of sales of French potato in Spain. Nonetheless there are also many who disagree with the French way of doing things. More than one grower has pointed out “this is making us judge potatoes on the basis of their external appearance, on how clean they are and we forget that potatoes grow under the earth. In this way of course you are then less aware of their shortcomings when it comes to cooking them”. This is what is being blamed for the marked decline in fresh potato consumption.

Processed potatoes

While there has been a pronounced decline in the consumption of fresh potatoes, potato destined for processing is increasing its market share, especially for frozen products and crisps of all flavours.

Industry usually uses French potato or potato from the North which are lower in price than early potato.

On the other hand, potato in the fresh cut range, a product that has been hard to attain although some pioneering companies did take up the challenge, has triumphed in the Horeca channel. The hotel trade has understood the importance of having fresh potato in their dishes and at the same time they can save on labour.

Spain, one of the world leaders in tourism, has some important companies dedicated to producing potatoes for the fresh-cut range. On the Costa del Sol and in Mallorca there are some very powerful operations. The business reach of these types of companies is limited due to logistics.