Lunes 6 de Octubre de 2025
El portal de la papa en Argentina
-10%Variación precio
puestos MCBA
 Buscador de Noticias
Latam 06/10/2025

Mexico: The high price of potatoes in supermarkets reaches up to 600% more than what the producer receives.

Supermarkets and bad policies are ruining the potato business. In the countryside, potatoes cost up to eight pesos per kilo, but end consumers buy them in shopping centers for up to 600 percent more.

Despite the ample supply of potatoes in the region, some supermarkets in the city have unreasonably raised their prices by more than 600 percent in the last five years.

Producers in Coahuila and Nuevo León reveal that while a kilo of potatoes currently costs between seven and eight pesos in the field, in supermarkets like HEB they have reached a price of up to 46 pesos per kilogram.

And the same thing happens in shopping malls in most states across the country.

“It’s an abuse by the self-service retailers; there’s no valid justification for this. They don’t absorb the risk of the field, the weather, the diseases, the fungi; they don’t have any of these risks. They buy potatoes, and if they don’t sell, they return them to the merchant... This has always been the case. So, they don’t really have any risk, like saying, ’Hey, I’ll take the risk,’” complains Roberto Garza Villareal, a local farmer.

So far, authorities such as the Ministry of Economy or the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (PROFECO) have not intervened to regulate the price of this product, one of the four main foodstuffs in the world, along with rice, wheat, and corn.

"I think potatoes have never been a key product for the government; the government has focused more on corn, wheat, and beans. Potatoes have never been considered a basic food basket," Garza Villarreal complains.

This situation, farmers warn, has been generating a series of negative impacts on the sector, both economic and social.

On the one hand, the high price of potatoes in supermarkets causes thousands of tons of this tuber, of important nutritional and energy value, to be left lying on the ground.

And, on the other hand, given the rising cost of this product, people prefer to buy processed or semi-processed foods with few nutritional qualities, which in the long run leads to health problems for the population.

"I think convenience stores aren’t maintaining that elasticity of supply and demand, and that affects the end consumer because they find potatoes more expensive, and instead of buying potatoes, which are a food that provides many nutrients, they end up buying junk food for their families. And it hurts the farmer because the product they need to move isn’t moving. If that elasticity of supply and demand were respected, I’m sure everything would work according to the free market, but it’s not working that way."

“In a free market, supply and demand must prevail. However, at the end of last year, around this time, the price of potatoes in the field reached 21 pesos per kilo, and in supermarkets, 39 pesos per kilo. If supermarkets, which are the country’s main food distributors, don’t reflect the drop in prices in the field, then the end consumer doesn’t experience the impact of food and ends up buying junk food at the end of the day, because it’s too expensive to buy fresh food or other food,” explains Roberto Garza.

HIGH PRICES, LOW CONSUMPTION

In his thesis "Potato Production System in the State of Coahuila and Nuevo León," agronomist Héctor Manuel Castillo Soto notes that in Mexico, between 15 and 16 kilos of potatoes are consumed per person per year, while in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland, their intake reaches up to 90, 120, and 140 kilos per year per inhabitant, respectively.

"Field prices don’t match consumer prices. Something’s not quite right there. I don’t know if the Ministry of Economy or PROFECO should take action, conduct some kind of analysis or investigation into what’s happening with these convenience stores, causing them to display extremely high prices," urges Gildardo González Saldívar, president of the National Confederation of Potato Producers (CONPAPA).

During a tour of various convenience stores in Saltillo last Tuesday, September 23rd, the "sale day" that these stores’ advertising has dubbed "Fruit and Vegetable Tuesdays," we observed that the price of a kilo of potatoes fluctuated between 29 pesos at AlSuper; 29.99 at Merco; and 39.95 at HEB.

The Walmart case drew attention, where the sale poster announced a reduction in potatoes that went from 69 pesos to 29 pesos per kilo.

And on a normal Friday, the cost of a kilo of potatoes in Soriana was 36.90 pesos.

This is despite the fact that the country’s central markets, the sector’s main intermediaries, are currently paying farmers in the field between seven and eight pesos per kilo for the first and best potatoes, selling them to supermarkets at a price of between 14 and 16 pesos per kilogram.

“And that’s the part that’s not understood. It should be done fairly: the price of potatoes was lowered in the field, and then it’s lowered to the consumer. That should be the most normal thing, but that’s not happening, and that’s what’s calling our attention,” complains Gildardo González Saldívar.

This media outlet requested an interview with the communications department of the federal Ministry of Economy. However, there was no response by press time.

For its part, PROFECO distanced itself from the matter, explaining that its powers are limited to verifying that product prices are publicly available in net amounts, while recommending that consumers use the Who’s Who in Prices (QQP) platform.

“Before making a purchase, shop around first. I compare how much it costs at HEB, how much it costs at Bodega Aurrera, or at the central supply store, and then the consumer will have the best option for purchasing. We as consumers make the final decision, which is the purchase. If you see prices somewhere that are excessively high, it’s quite simple: don’t buy from them. Their inventory will run out, and they’ll have to discount the product,” advised an official from this Attorney General’s Office who asked to remain anonymous.

The federal Secretariat of Rural Development (SADER), for its part, responded that it has no influence on food prices, only on certain aspects related to their production.

The National Association of Self-Service Stores (ANTAD) was also contacted, however, the administration said it was unaware of anything related to its members’ prices.

"The reality is we don’t have any. We can’t even talk because we don’t know anything about it. Stores generally don’t report sales or prices; each chain handles it differently. Ask the stores directly," suggested an ANTAD spokesperson.

SEMANARIO then sent interview requests, via email and WhatsApp, to various commercial corporations, hoping to discuss the criteria used to set potato prices, but so far they have not responded.

"No matter where you plant, no matter where your potatoes come from, you’re going to lose money at this price. It’s unacceptable that (the stores) have a 700 percent profit margin compared to the producer in the field. I think it’s irrational, and the problem isn’t that you’re going to lose money; thousands of tons of potatoes that could help feed the country’s poorest people are going to be left on the ground, and that’s where the social issue begins."

“Every day people say they can’t afford to go to the supermarket. We’d like to see the price of potatoes at supermarkets go down, so people would consume a lot more Mexican potatoes, helping Mexican workers, Mexican producers, the entire supply chain, and the truckers who move those potatoes,” says farmer Roberto Garza.

FRESH POTATOES ALL YEAR ROUND

Farmer Roberto Garza can’t understand why, despite Mexico being self-sufficient in potato production, there are no cheap Mexican potatoes in supermarkets.

The Agrifood and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP) reports that 60,303.48 hectares of potatoes were cultivated in Mexico in 2018, with a harvest of 1,802,591.68 tons and a yield of 29.89 tons per hectare.

According to data from the National Confederation of Potato Producers, more than 65,000 hectares of potatoes were planted in the country by 2024, with a production close to 2.2 million tons and an overproduction per hectare of over 32 tons.

"This makes us extremely self-sufficient in national production," warns Gildardo González, president of CONPAPA.

Garza Villarreal warns that this policy by supermarkets of charging high prices for potatoes has many consequences for the countryside, and particularly for farmers, who are now an endangered species.

“Nobody wants to get into the business anymore.”

Loss of producers in Coahuila and Nuevo León

According to SIAP statistics, in 1995, 6,892 hectares of potatoes were planted in the Coahuila and Nuevo León region, with a production of 234,838 tons. Almost 30 years later, in 2024, the area had been reduced to 2,869 hectares of potatoes and a production of 123,469.94 tons.

Roberto Garza asserts that today in this area only about 35,000 to 40,000 tons are harvested.

“In the Saltillo region, 10 years ago, approximately 12,000 hectares of potatoes were planted; today, 3,000 hectares are planted,” notes Garza Villarreal.

However, he emphasizes that this region is strategic, given that it supplies potatoes to the entire country during the last quarter of the year, just when the product begins to become scarce.

“During that season, the Saltillo region still has good-quality potatoes, well-fried for factories, and well-washed for the food market.”

It’s estimated that in the area of ​​Galeana, Nuevo León, and Arteaga, Coahuila, the quintessential potato-growing region of northeastern Mexico, until 30 years ago, there were between 50 and 60 potato producers. Today, only 10 of the strongest survive.

"It’s sad because the Coahuila and Nuevo León region has been one of the pioneers in potato production nationwide. There are producers there, or were, who have been producing potatoes for more than 50 years, and now they no longer plant them. Only a few remain," says Gildardo González.

The indiscriminate rise in prices for this vegetable, driven by supermarkets, is compounded by the elimination of government support for potato producers, which has been in place since before the start of the 4T, says businessman Roberto Garza:

"Agriculture has been neglected for years; profits were already being taken away from the countryside. The Fourth Transformation didn’t help, but the situation had already been severely affected."

Subsidies for electricity, diesel, agricultural insurance, irrigation systems, fertilizer purchases, tractor purchases, cold storage construction, and financing were withdrawn from potato producers during the administration of President Ernesto Peña Nieto, says Garza Villarreal.

"Imagine adding all the costs and charges, and without subsidies, and on top of that, self-service stores are making the product expensive for consumers for no reason..." laments CONPAPA leader Gildardo González.

COMPLICATED AREA FOR POTATOES

Here, pest and disease control alone accounts for almost 60 percent of the crop’s value, not counting the high cost of other inputs such as seeds, labor, irrigation, and fertilization.

“We are one of the most complex areas due to the pests and diseases we have, the early frosts, the hailstorms in May, and the heavy rains in October and November, when it rains. All of these are risks we face in the fields, and at the same time, we are among those who invest the most to produce a kilo of potatoes, and the yields are difficult because we are a dry area,” says Roberto Garza.

In fact, the emergence of pests and diseases in the region, and the subsequent cost of harvesting the crop, has caused many farmers to abandon the potato production business.

"There was a very serious problem with an insect vector of a disease called purple tip, which raised costs, and many farmers couldn’t cope. The strong producers were the ones who stayed here. Many stopped planting due to pest and disease infestation," says a federal SADER technician who did not want to be identified.

Based on estimates from SADER, the cost per hectare of potatoes for a producer in the Coahuila and Nuevo León region ranges between 300,000 and 400,000 pesos.

“The truth is that we’re a very complicated area. We’re, I dare say, the most expensive area to grow potatoes in the country. At the same time, we run many risks in an area where access to water is very difficult. We have water wells at a depth of more than 350 meters. If we continue a little further, we might become oil producers,” says Roberto Garza Villarreal.

Generational change is another factor that has influenced the decline of the sector.

“It’s a reality that today the countryside is on a tightrope. No one wants to be a farmer anymore. Young people don’t want to work in the fields. They want to work in technology, in offices, with air conditioning, behind a computer, doing very quiet, low-pressure jobs. And in the fields, every day there’s a new scare: the pump burned out, the irrigation system broke down, a pipe burst, it was too hot or too cold, it didn’t rain, it rained a lot, the rain hit us with fungi like late blight,” says Roberto Garza, also an active member of CONPAPA.

Even so, Gildardo González affirms that the country’s farmers have done their homework in terms of maintaining very good potato production per hectare, ideal quality, implementing cutting-edge technologies for water use, and maintaining sustainability in agricultural production with the use of agrochemicals tailored to the needs of the crop and the climate...

"Which makes us more productive. We’re working to be efficient, to take care of the phytosanitary needs of our country and our soils."

OPEN THE BORDER, ANOTHER BLOW

Fernando Tohui Lomelí Valero, a potato producer in the region, criticizes the previous López Obrador administration’s decision to open the border to potato imports from the United States, a measure that represented a further blow to the producer and, in general, to the Mexican countryside.

“Without any regulation, I think it was more a matter of populism than of true support for the countryside, than of true food sovereignty. It was the opposite, not at all food sovereignty, not food self-sufficiency, that’s what the speech said. They (the Americans) do protect their countryside; they don’t allow anything they can produce to be imported from anywhere. The United States takes care of its producers.”

Figures from the National Confederation of Potato Producers indicate that from January to July 2025 alone, more than 101,000 tons of fresh American potatoes were imported into the country, 33 percent of the 300,000 tons of potatoes imported in their various forms: potato sticks, pellets, and powder for mashed potatoes.

"We have always emphasized and been on the front foot with the phytosanitary aspect, since Mexico doesn’t have the pests or diseases that the United States has, which are quarantined and affect not only potato crops but also other solanaceous crops such as tomatoes, chilies, eggplant..." questions Gildardo González.

In contrast, the entry of Mexican potatoes into the United States is restricted.

“To export potatoes from Mexico to the United States, you must meet certain requirements, which are currently being met. As of today, no Mexican potatoes are exported to the United States, and potatoes from the United States are imported into Mexico with virtually no regulations. What we’re fighting for is for compliance with health and hygiene standards, the operating standards imposed at the federal level...,” Roberto Garza demands.

Even CONPAPA has detected American potatoes with larvae or rotten potatoes on the shelves of convenience stores.

“Potatoes with worms, completely rotten potatoes. It’s unthinkable that our government and the stores are allowing that type of product to be offered to consumers. If we had potatoes like those in any store, a Mexican potato from any producer, from any region of the country, they would immediately punish you, return them, throw them out, and the supplier would be hit with extraordinary charges, but on top of that, they have to replace them with good material. It turns out that American potatoes stay there and are auctioned off until they are sold, compared to our product, which is of much higher quality,” Gildardo González complains.

According to Fernando Lomelí, the majority of the potatoes are stored for many months in the United States, which is not fresh, and contains some diseases specific to this vegetable that can contaminate Mexican fields and markets.

“The potato is cheap because it has better production conditions from the government. There are subsidies for diesel and permanent electricity, fertilizer costs are much cheaper, production regulations are also fewer, American producers have access to financing for machinery and technological development, and they manage to produce cheap potatoes, less popular, of lower quality. If we analyze them, they may even have less nutritional value, a potato with inferior characteristics to Mexican ones. However, the massive import of American potatoes is cutting off access for Mexican consumers, and that is creating a tremendous, very unequal imbalance.”

Víctor Manuel Gerónimo, PhD in regional economics, gives his opinion on the importation of French potatoes into Mexico:

"It’s ironic. We have potato producers who already have the experience, land resources, and labor to produce. However, now we have to buy potatoes. The government has abandoned small and large producers."

Unlike in Mexico, in the United States, there are non-refundable grants for agricultural mechanization and zero-interest loan rates, which result in a disadvantage or unfair competition for Mexican potatoes.

“We’re competing unequally; producing potatoes in Mexico isn’t the same as producing them in the United States,” says Garza Villarreal.

Hence the importance, González Saldívar emphasizes, of the government, convenience stores, and society in general supporting the efforts and pride of the families working in the potato production value chain, from the harvesters, day laborers, managers or foremen, agricultural engineers, tractor drivers...

"It’s not about protecting an agricultural producer or a grocery store, it’s about protecting the consumer. What we need is for consumers to have what they need so they can afford it."

THE DAD, A SUPERFOOD

Although the potato has been demonized by the myth that it is fattening and bad for you, the reality is that this vegetable, native to South America, has excellent nutritional properties due to its high content of carbohydrates, vitamins A, C and B complex, and minerals, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron.

"In 2008, the FAO named it the world’s crop because it’s the most nutritious and energetic product for people," explains González Saldívar.

Jesús Ángel Padilla Gámez, a master’s degree holder in public health and a nutrition specialist, defines the potato as a "very noble" tuber.

“People think citrus fruits are the best source of vitamin C. It turns out that potatoes have a very respectable, redeemable vitamin C content, and are very versatile. The way you prepare them is where you can take advantage of their benefits or, well, ruin them as a food.”

Thus, while a boiled or steamed potato provides a maximum of 70 calories per 100 grams, a 100-gram bag of potato chips provides 538 calories.

According to nutritionist Julyana Bg, potatoes contain twice as much potassium as bananas, making them an infallible remedy for blood pressure in people with type 2 diabetes and older adults.

"And believe it or not, there are studies that say potatoes help us control our weight. This tuber is wonderful."

Its high probiotic content repairs intestinal flora; its magnesium helps prevent heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes; its vitamin B-6 contributes to combating disorders such as anemia and even depression; and its vitamin C strengthens the immune system and prevents cancer and cataracts, insists Dr. Julyana.

For domestic use and processing, it is recommended that potatoes be consumed either steamed or boiled in water, and that they be used as a companion to other nutrients, such as eggs.

"And if you add pico de gallo, chili, tomato, and onion, you add more nutrients and flavor. You can use it with a little butter, pepper, and a little salt, and you have a superfood that you can pair with an egg and you’re on the other side," explains Dr. José Ángel Padilla.

The same cannot be said for French fries or potato chips, which provide 300 calories per 100 grams during frying.

"Potatoes have two types of fiber: a fiber in the pulp that dissolves and helps inhibit the rapid absorption of carbohydrates and fats from other foods. And they have a more rigid fiber in the skin that gives shape and volume to the fecal mass for very healthy intestinal transit."

Who should be cautious with potatoes? Diabetics and obese patients, who need to monitor their calorie intake.

WELL EATEN...

Gildardo González and Roberto Garza say that for the past four years, CONPAPA has been promoting a series of social media campaigns, involving merchants and farmers, aimed at at least doubling per capita potato consumption in Mexico over the next five years.

"The campaigns seek to increase per capita consumption, regardless of the origin of the potatoes. It doesn’t matter if the potatoes are from Sonora, Saltillo, Toluca, or Veracruz. What we seek is to increase per capita consumption, raising it from 15 kilos to 30 kilos," adds Garza Villarreal.

One of the factors that has influenced the low per capita consumption of potatoes, says Víctor Manuel Gerónimo, a doctor in regional economics, is the current economic and social dynamics experienced by households, where women have entered the workforce and families are beginning to consume prepared foods: a pizza, a chicken.

However, estimates made by Víctor Manuel Gerónimo, on per capita potato consumption, based on microdata from the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (ENIGH), of INEGI, reveal that until 1996 the annual per capita potato consumption in Coahuila was 17 kilos per person, while in 2024 consumption was 20 kilos, a figure that represents an increase in consumption of 17.65 percent over a period of 28 years.

Among the vegetables consumed fresh, the potato ranks first in terms of frequency of consumption.

Through its campaigns, CONPAPA has managed to raise awareness with information that helps debunk myths surrounding potatoes, as well as strengthen knowledge and recognition of this vegetable.

“The ’Let’s Paparenos’ campaign was four years ago, the ’Fresh Mexican Potato’ campaign was two years ago, and recently we’re starting this new project, ’Pamper Yourself with Fresh Mexican Potatoes,’ where we can tell people about the superfood they can have. It’s very attractive, with good results in terms of numbers, very good impact, and very good attendance,” says González Saldívar.

The project also includes the creation of recipes and the promotion of the tuber as a superfood in shopping centers.

"We’re working with restaurant chambers and other business chambers to launch a joint national campaign," reports Roberto Garza.

However, Gildardo acknowledges that they will never achieve a tangible practical effect as long as consumers do not have access to favorable prices.

And in this regard, Garza points out that so far there has been no real interest from stores to participate in the current campaign.

"I think ANTAD should be the main stakeholder... because they’re going to sell more potatoes, it’s that simple, and if they sell more potatoes, they make more money. If self-service stores lower prices, people will automatically start eating more potatoes... I urge everyone to keep eating potatoes..."

Fuente: Traducido por Argenpapa de: vanguardia.com.mx


Te puede interesar