Canadians consume just under 26 pounds of potatoes a year, but produce about 10.2 billion pounds a year — 310 pounds for every man, woman and child in the country.
As with most other Canadian agricultural commodities, that means a whole lot has to leave the country. A few pounds dribble out here and there as raw table potatoes or other specialty products like potato chips, but the 600-pound gorilla in the industry is the frozen french-fry market. Nearly 60 per cent of the potatoes produced in Canada are steam-peeled, blanched, par-fried, flash frozen and packaged before finding their way to retail freezers and fast-food joints, almost all of them outside the country, says Ken MacIsaac, United Potato Growers of Canada general manager.
“Canada is as reliant on exports today as ever, and mainly we export to the U.S., where we backfill that market as they move their own crop offshore,” he says.
The tale of how that market has first waxed, then waned, and now appears poised to grow again is an interesting microcosm of how two distinct but intertwined economies function.
There may be early signs of hope. The U.S. recovery has taken hold and consumers have begun to spend again — including buying fries at quick-serve restaurants. Oil prices have plummeted, dragging down the Canadian dollar. Will this mean new opportunities for the Canadian french fry industry?
