Fries producers Clarebout and Lutosa take action due to overcapacity in potato market
Overcapacity in the potato market is prompting major Belgian players such as Clarebout Potatoes and Lutosa to take action. At the factory of Clarebout in Nieuwkerke, there is temporary unemployment, and at Lutosa in Sint-Eloois-Vijve, part of the weekend work has been cancelled.
The Clarebout Potatoes factory in Nieuwkerke, West Flanders, is currently at a standstill. Temporary unemployment has been introduced for the more than 300 workers. The temporary unemployment scheme runs from 11 to 23 March and applies only to manual workers, not to office staff. Clarebout also has sites in Waasten, Mouscron and Dunkirk in France. Production there has reportedly not been halted.
According to Lars Decock of the ACV Food and Services trade union, the company and the entire sector are struggling with an overcapacity of frozen fries. “There is a lot of competition from Asian countries and energy prices are also putting some pressure,” stated Decock. Clarebout itself refers to a “short-term operational adjustment, as a result of recent market fluctuations and tensions in the supply chain”.
Decock also says that Clarebout will use the production shutdown to align its production facilities with those of the American company Simplot, the new owner since last year. What consequences this will have remains unclear.
The downturn in the sector is also being felt at potato processor Lutosa in Sint-Eloois-Vijve, also in West Flanders, which is part of the Canadian firm McCain. According to Decock, the weekend shift there is being partially phased out: the production of fresh fries at the weekend will be halted.
According to De Tijd, the war in Iran also has an impact, and not just because of higher energy and transport costs. The market in the Middle East has been disrupted, Christophe Vermeulen, CEO of the trade federation Belgapom, told Het Nieuwsblad. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states are among the Belgian potato sector’s most important customers.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration © PHOTO FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP
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