Ukrainian Potatoes Production
Ukraine is the fourth potato producer in the world after China, India, and Russian. In 2016, Ukraine harvested 21,750,290 MT of potatoes while the harvested area is 1,311,600 hectares. Production is mainly provided by private households. High labor intensity and low wholesale prices confine the widely practicing of large-scale industrial production. During 2011-2012, more than 75% of Ukrainian potatoes is consumed at home or distributed to family, relatives, and friends, 7-8% go directly to supermarkets, and only 1% is exported. Potato varieties vary from year to year. In 2013, there are totally 152 varieties in the National Register, compared with 100 varieties in 2002. Among them, 79 are Ukrainian varieties and the remain 73 are foreign varieties. Ukrainian origin accounts for 52%, while Dutch varieties represent 23% and German varieties represent 22%. The red varieties have more demand.
Potato Processing Market Situation
Limited Potato Processing
As potato prices in Ukraine are extremely low, so potato processing is concerned. However, the potatoes utilized rate for processing in Ukraine is extremely small. During 2011- 2012, the potato processing represented no more than 3.5% of total production volume. This is attributed to several reasons, including low quality of potatoes, a high cost of energy resources, low storage capacity, lack of support from State and high financing cost. Kraft Foods Ukraine remains the only large manufacturer of chips in the country.
Imports of Potato Snacks
Growing consumption of snacks in Ukraine together with relatively low competition among domestic manufacturers cause the increasing imports of potato chips. According to State Statistics Service of Ukraine, Ukraine imported totally 7,800 tons of potato chips and snack in January-November 2013, which increases 30% compared with the whole year 2012. Imports from Russia increased 12 times than the previous season, while imports from Poland were relatively stable and remained higher than that of Russian ones.
