The European potato market is facing an overproduction crisis: the surplus exceeds 3.3 million tons, and prices have dropped below zero, according to ProAgro Group.

As reported by Grocery Gazette, in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France, farmers are forced to pay for the disposal of vegetables, as the price of potatoes for animal feed has fallen to –£0.86 per 100 kg.

The reasons include an expansion of planted areas in 2024–2025 amid high demand and favorable contracts, as well as a decline in consumption in 2026 due to competition from Asian producers, U.S. tariff barriers, and the weakening of the euro against the dollar. Limited long-term storage capacity further exacerbates the problem.

For Ukrainian farmers, this situation serves as an important indicator of global risks: a surplus in the EU puts downward pressure on prices and demonstrates how dangerous overproduction can be even in stable markets.

Earlier, it was reported that in Berlin, one farmer initiated a large-scale campaign to distribute potatoes for free. Shares have already been provided to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, kindergartens, schools, churches, and non-profit organizations. Even the Berlin Zoo joined the “rescue operation,” receiving tons of potatoes that would otherwise have been discarded or used for biogas production.