Emma Bedford
Senior Team Lead Food & Agriculture
Potato market in the UK - statistics & facts
Potatoes can be enjoyed in a variety of traditional British and Irish foods, such as shepherd’s pie, neeps, and taties, or seaside fish and chips. While the UK has historically held a strong potato market, its growth in recent years is staggering. In 2022, the turnover of establishments processing and preparing potato products reached approximately 2.6 million British pounds. This is almost one million British pounds more than a decade previously.
However, multi-pack crisps were one of the products hit hardest by rising prices recently, with the price of an average multi-pack increasing by 14 percent between 2022 and 2023. It is yet to be seen if food price inflation in the UK will decrease further and provide some light relief to shoppers' wallets. Until then, consumers may be forking out more for their favorite crunchy snack or convenient dinner side dish.
Manufacturing and trade
Potato chips, known as crisps in the UK, are another popular food item for Brits. The sales value of potato chips manufactured in the UK reached an all-time high in recent years. The export of potatoes from the UK was increasing until 2019 and then experienced a 36 percent decrease in the following two years. In 2021, the export value of potatoes from the UK was at about 91 million British pounds. Since then, exports picked up to reach a value of 147 million British pounds.Retail and consumption
Of all retail sales of potatoes in the UK, most sales came from crisps. Closely following this was fresh potatoes, and then pre-packed fresh products. In the UK, the leading brand of frozen potato products was McCain. As of 2021/22, the average UK consumer spent 120 pence per week on fresh and processed potato products. Of this figure, 52 pence were spent on crisps, and 32 pence were spent on chips. In the UK, almost eight million people consumed frozen chip products at least once a week, solidifying this products importance to the UK potato market.However, multi-pack crisps were one of the products hit hardest by rising prices recently, with the price of an average multi-pack increasing by 14 percent between 2022 and 2023. It is yet to be seen if food price inflation in the UK will decrease further and provide some light relief to shoppers' wallets. Until then, consumers may be forking out more for their favorite crunchy snack or convenient dinner side dish.
