Potato shortage warning: Stock up now before prices spike
Due to black frost impacting the Limpopo regions, a potato shortage is expected, leading to price increases until the end of September.
The black frost affecting Limpopo’s farming regions is expected to cause a notable potato shortage, resulting in a significant price hike for potatoes and frozen chips through the end of September. A 10-kilogram bag of potatoes could cost approximately R180 to R200.
Black frost destroys potato production
Mohammed Adam, a buyer from M&R Marketing, stated that the main reason for the coming potato shortage is the ‘natural phenomena of the black frost which hit the Limpopo farming areas quite severely this year’.
Black frost occurs when the atmosphere is dry and causes extensive damage and blackening of plants.
M&R Marketing is based at Epping Fresh Produce Market and specialises in exporting and distributing fresh fruit and vegetables, according to IOL.
As for potato production in other provinces, the Western Cape is not in full production yet, and neither are the Northern Cape or other parts of the country.
Less yield, higher price, experts weigh in
“The volume of potatoes will drop. There will be less volume and the prices will increase.”
Mohammed Adam, M&R Marketing buyer
The Fortress for the Commercial Farmer in South Africa general manager, Bennie van Zyl, said the shortage of potatoes will have a negative impact on both distributors and farmers.
According Potatoes SA’s Ferdinand Coetzee’s prediction, farmers will lose approximately 7.4 million 10kg bags of potatoes due to the frost. That translates to 3% of the total potato harvest in South Africa and 13% of Limpopo’s potato harvest.
Coetzee added that they expect the sizes of potatoes to also be impacted significantly. The consumable yield will most likely include fewer large and extra-large-sized potatoes.
Consumers should see better prices again by November. This is when yields are expected to improve as potato crops recover from black frost, said Adam in an interview.
Not the only reason for increased potato prices in 2024
Although South Africa has not experienced load shedding for some time, it has affected the price of potatoes significantly. The regular load shedding has caused disruption in the agricultural sector. It has caused farmers all over the country to experience production losses.
According to Business Tech, the price of potatoes increased by 80.82% between 2017 and 2024.