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P.E.I growers accuse processors of flooding market

September 15, 2008, Charlottetown,
P.E.I. – Potato producers in this province are accusing French fry
companies of flooding the open market with cheap potatoes.

September 15, 2008, Charlottetown, P.E.I. – Potato producers in this province are accusing French fry companies of flooding the open market with cheap potatoes.

According to a recent report by the Canadian Press in the Truro Daily News, an island potato farmer and a potato marketer have told a provincial standing committee on agriculture that large-scale potato processors are buying surplus potatoes for two to three cents per pound. While some of these surplus tubers are being processed, leftovers are being sold on to the open market, the pair said, resulting in a drop in the market price of tablestock potatoes.

They add that the P.E.I. Potato Board is unable to do anything about the market flooding since all but two of the elected board members have contracts with the potato processing companies.

Read the full report here.