Home consumption and retail sales remain stable but with holiday season fast approaching consumption trends are usually more volatile. The food service sector should see an increase over the coming weeks – this market is challenging due to an oversupply. Early growers are harvesting Premiere and Home Guard in the south east and Queens should be fit shortly. There is good demand for new season crops to date. Planting of main season Rooster was still taking place in Donegal last week, by no means will it be an early season.
In the European market, the processing market remains unchanged and the high temperatures at the end of May have increased the need for growers to unload ambient stores. Crop quality is reported to be declining rapidly, leading to increased rejections for poor fry colour and sprouting. In the U.K. recent rain was very welcome by growers. For the crisping market, high expectation had been put on retail sales before the World Cup but these don’t appear to have taken place.
