Industry profile

Potatoes have been grown as a food source for around 8,000 years and New Zealand has grown them for about 200 of those years.

Around 10,670 hectares (26,408 acres) of New Zealand's arable farmland is used to grow potatoes. In fact, the area used to grow potatoes is larger than any other vegetable crop. Production over the past ten years has increased markedly even though the hectares under production have remained reasonably static.

Potatoes in New Zealand are grown for the table (grown on 3,548 hectares), for processing into other potato products (5,926 hectares), or as seed potatoes (1,194 hectares).

Size

In New Zealand there are 200-plus potato growers (the number fluctuates) growing a combined area of 10,670 hectares and producing about 525,000 tonnes of potatoes annually. To put that in numbers, if the average size of a potato is 175g, that's approximately 2,855,000,000 potatoes, or 697 a year for every man, woman and child in New Zealand.

Value

The total value of New Zealand's potato industry in the year to March 2011 was $143 million at the farm gate - i.e. what growers were paid. The total retail and export value of the potato industry, including what householders and restaurants buy, what is bought by local processors and what is exported, is estimated at $382 million a year.

Growing areas

Potatoes are grown in all parts of the country with the principal growing areas being Pukekohe, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu and Canterbury. Fresh market potatoes can be grown and harvested all year round.

Commercial varieties

There are around 50 varieties grown in New Zealand, but not all of them are grown commercially. The main commercial varieties are Russett Burbank, Innovator, Rua, Nadine, Agria, Moonlight, Desiree, Ilam Hardy and Red Rascal. Their average yields are around 40 tonnes per hectare.

Crisping potatoes

The crisping industry is small in New Zealand with only three processing companies operating here: Bluebird, owned by Pepsico-Frito Lay; ETA owned by PEP of Australia; and New Zealand company, Fresher Foods. The crisping industry in New Zealand - as it is around the world - is very competitive at the retail level.

Seed potatoes

New Zealand's seed potato industry is small with just over 1,100 hectares used to grow seed potatoes. Most growers are part of the Seed Potato Certification Scheme, which is administered by the New Zealand Seed Potato Certification Authority run by Potatoes New Zealand. The scheme is a quality assurance programme that seeks to ensure each seed potato sold is true to type (i.e. the potato grown is the breed it is supposed to be) and it is free of disease, at least within approved tolerances. In New Zealand, as margins are small, most seed potato growers grow their seed potatoes as part of a larger growing operation, dedicating a small part of their arable land to seed potatoes. The average seed potato yields are around 20t/ha. Most seed potatoes in New Zealand are bought by Alex McDonald Merchants Ltd and Eurogrow Potatoes.

Export statistics

Approximately one quarter of our annual crop is exported. This is a very high proportion and is testament to the quality of New Zealand potatoes and the export marketing efforts of the processed and fresh potato sectors.

By far the major form of potato exports is french fries, a sector that has been growing steadily by volume each year. Total potato exports were worth nearly $100 million in 2010 and frozen potato products accounted for 83% of that export value. Frozen processed potatoes make up the bulk of exports as fresh potatoes are currently prohibited access to many potential markets for phytosanitary reasons.

For a full breakdown on our potato exports – how much is exported, to where, and what those exports are worth, click here to download a spreadsheet showing our exports for the years 1999-2010.

For more information about our work to support potato exports click here.

Exports of frozen processed potatoes

Frozen processing is dominated by McCain Foods of Canada, which has a plant in Timaru, and Simplot Mr Chips with plants in Auckland and Christchurch. The main processing varieties are Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet and Shepody, which have an average yield of around 60t/ha. The frozen processed potato industry has shown some volatility over the past couple of years, with exports reaching 85,671 tonnes in 2007 but dropping back to 67,718 tonnes in 2010. The main frozen export market is Australia, which takes over 70% of New Zealand's frozen processed potato exports and is a market which continues to grow. The next largest market is Japan, which accounts for less than 5% of New Zealand's frozen potato exports.
 

Exports of fresh potatoes

The fresh export market is much smaller, due to the rigorous phytosanitary requirements of most countries. However, in the year to June 2010, 29,830 tonnes of fresh potatoes were exported, 80% of which were sent to Fiji. The remaining 20% are predominately sent to markets in the Pacific and Asia. Fresh potatoes are currently prohibited access to many potential markets, such as Japan and Australia. The industry has recently gained access for fresh potatoes to Taiwan and it is hoped that this market will grow in importance in the next few years.

Exports of seed potatoes

New Zealand also has a small market for its export seed potatoes, particularly to tropical countries where it is more difficult to produce good seed, such as Sri Lanka.