Sep 15, 2016Severe weather impacts growers in Japan
Three typhoons have hit the Japanese island of Hokkaido this summer severely damaging potato and onion production there. Over 75 percent of Japanese potatoes are produced in Hokkaido and many fields were flooded from the heavy rains during the summer growing season. Additionally, one potato chip processing plant on the island was flooded, temporarily suspending operations.
Calbee, the largest potato chip producer in Japan, has reported that the launch of four new potato chip items have been delayed due to the shortage of potatoes from Hokkaido. They also report that they will need to import more chipping potatoes from the U.S. once the shipping window opens in February. The U.S. shipped a record 36,208 metric tons of chipping potatoes to Japan in the past marketing year from July 2015 – June 2016.
Source: Potatoes USA
