According to a report by Product Processing in a News American Potato Market News (NAPMN) report on May 27, demand for frozen french fries is growing faster than industry expectations.
The lack of demand for catering services due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has created a "backup" in the potato supply chain. For example, sales of the American fast food chain Wendy's in certain areas decreased by only 2,1% compared to last year.
In addition, suppliers of french fries sold 112,8 million pounds of freezing stock during April, which was the biggest achievement of the month since 1993, reports NAPMN.
However, record results may be associated with production downtime. For example, the Lamb Weston plant in Washington was temporarily closed last month due to the fact that one of the employees tested positive for COVID-19. A company McCain confirmed staff reductions at several North American enterprises.
It can also be noted that sales figures in US restaurants have improved for five consecutive weeks (from early April to mid-May), but at the same time they remain noticeably lower than last year (for example, the result of the week ending May 17 was 21% lower than the same last year period).
Full report here