We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Australia is currently in the throes of a potato shortage. Yes. This is not a drill.
The humble spud is one of those things that makes life bearable. Whether it be a crispy and delicious chip, a delightfully hot number smothered in tomato sauce, a crispy scallop, mashed, fried, roasted – you name it, the potato is our saving grace and to it, we are eternally thankful. This is why this news really, really hurts.
In case you didn't know, potato crops are divided into different types – the processed potatoes that get turned into frozen products, and the fresh little nuggets that you use for your Sunday roast. Right now, the most acute spud shortage is for processed potatoes, meaning that you can still (thankfully) snag yourself a fresh tater in its purest form from the shops without too much of issue. It's bad news for your local takeaway, though.
So, why does Australia have a frozen potato shortage, and when will it be over?
Potato yields in NSW and Victoria have been seriously compromised over the past year due to (yep, you guessed it) a wetter-than average winter and widespread flooding. With Sydney alone breaking an all-time record for the rainiest year ever recorded, the nation’s farms have also taken a battering, with numerous crops suffering across the country.
As seen on SBS news, potato grower and Victorian Farmers Federation horticulture vice president Katherine Myers said that “potatoes are a set-season crop, so they need a four- to five-month period to come out of the ground…the prolonged wet weather made it too difficult to manage the crops that were in the ground, made it difficult to harvest the crops, and it meant that there were quite significant delays in getting the new crops planted”.
This sad fact means that, not only have less potatoes grown, the ones that have are a lot smaller. That means there are way less spuds hitting potato processing facilities for all our frozen potato needs. This, compounded with the drought in Europe, means that potato crops everywhere are suffering. And that's bad news for all ye frozen hash brown lovers.
Coles has set a purchase limit of two frozen potato products per person. Woolies, on the other hand, has not. Thankfully, there aren't any purchase limits in place for fresh potatoes, however it is expected that the prices of chips (both cold, and hot) will rise accordingly.
Ms Myers went on to say to SBS News that; “we’re not likely to see good potato yields returning in the next 12 months. As farmers, our hearts go out to consumers, fish and chip shop owners, and restaurant owners, because we know how hard it is for us at the moment.”
May the power of the spuds be with you. Good luck.