Poland
Last season, Poland found itself at the epicenter of the “potato crisis.” The situation on the Polish market remains uncertain. Demand for last year’s harvest is plummeting, and prices have stalled at rock bottom. At the same time, trade in fresh potatoes is gaining momentum, reportsEastFruit, citingSadyOgrody.pl.
According to Bronisław Maciej Kmera, an expert on the wholesale market, young Polish potatoes currently account for the majority of sales. Yellow varieties are selling for approximately 2 zlotys/kg (0.47 euros/kg), while popular white varieties, such as Irga and Orlik, cost around 3 zlotys/kg (0.71 euros/kg).
Potatoes from last year’s harvest are in a significantly less favorable position. Demand for them is limited and comes mainly from buyers who need specific varieties for preparing particular dishes, such as potato pancakes. The quality of these tubers is considered low, which is reflected in the prices. For example, a standard bag of Irga potatoes can be sold for about 10 PLN (2.35 EUR).
At the same time, imported potatoes are gradually disappearing from the market. Small volumes of produce from Egypt are still available for sale; however, given the affordable prices of local new potatoes, imports are losing their competitiveness, and shipments are gradually being scaled back.
Ukraine
At the end of May, a paradoxical situation arose on the Ukrainian market: local new potatoes are selling for nearly twice the price of imported ones, writesEastFruit, citingUNIAN.
Mykola Furdyga, director of the Institute of Potato Growing at the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences (NAAS), explained the reasons for this difference in price and quality. According to the expert, imported potatoes cannot be considered entirely new potatoes, as they lose the characteristic properties of a freshly harvested product after prolonged transportation. Genuine new potatoes reach consumers almost immediately after harvest, while the skin is still thin and tender. During transport, which can last several weeks, the skin becomes tougher.
Currently, on the Ukrainian market, imported potatoes from Azerbaijan are sold for 50–60 hryvnias/kg (0.97–1.16 euros/kg), while Ukrainian potatoes cost 100–130 hryvnia/kg (1.93–2.51 euros/kg). This difference is due to the fact that domestic early potatoes are mainly grown in greenhouses, which makes their production more costly.
The main suppliers of early potatoes to Ukraine currently remain Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian countries. Thanks to an earlier start to the growing season, their produce is still cheaper, even when logistics costs are factored in.
The market situation is expected to change in June. As potatoes grown under agrotextile and in open fields become available, prices for Ukrainian produce will begin to fall and may drop below those of imports. Currently, wholesale potato prices have already fallen to an average of 0.9 euros per kilogram.
Moldova
In Moldova, according to fruit market operators, the bulk of new potatoes sold both in supermarkets and at open-air markets consisted of imported produce until this week. The countries of origin are Turkey, Romania, France, and the Netherlands (products from the latter two countries are mainly small consumer packages and chain retail).
There is little local production. In Moldova, professional potato growers in the Cahul region have traditionally specialized in the production of early potatoes (in greenhouses and under agrotextile). However, in recent years, they have been systematically reducing the scale of this crop’s cultivation.
The reason is a growing shortage of seasonal workers. Early potatoes are harvested using a semi-mechanized method: the tubers are dug up with a special machine, but they are gathered, sorted, and packed by hand.
Berry farms are struggling but still managing to find workers for harvesting, particularly for the expensive early strawberries. Although early potatoes cost several times more than last year’s potatoes, they do not generate the same profit as berries or gherkins.
Consequently, new potatoes have shifted from the mass market segment to a niche segment of the fruit and vegetable market.
According to EastFruit’s price monitoring, in late May–early June 2026, the average wholesale price for early potatoes in Moldova stabilized at 15 lei/kg. A year ago during this period of the season, potatoes were slightly more expensive—17 lei/kg.
However, in a five-year comparison, the price of new potatoes this year is significantly higher than the average. Moreover, the retail price of this product has not yet fallen below 20 lei/kg, and in some cases, the price of the premium “baby potatoes” exceeds 40 lei/kg.
As market players note to Logos Press, the wide “price range” between wholesale and retail indicates, among other things, that the supply of new potatoes is still modest in both quantity and volume.
However, the situation is set to change in the near future. In neighboring Romania, the harvest of early potatoes has already begun, including from open-field plantations.
Nevertheless, this year’s potato harvest will not reach the long-term average level of summer wholesale prices (8–13 lei/kg) until early July at the earliest.
