UK Potato Grower Reports Loss

A UK potato grower from Lincolnshire has recently reported a drop in turnover and slipped into debt during its latest financial year. AH Worth and Company, which is based near Holbeach, has posted a turnover of GBP93.7m for the 12 months to 31 May 2019, down from GBP98.5m. It also made a pre-tax loss of GBP1.3m for the year after making a profit of GBP3.6m in the prior period.

A statement signed off by the board said: "The 2018 UK potato harvest was estimated at 4.90 million tons, compared to 6.04 million tons in 2017, a decrease of 23%.

"This was in turn an increase of 16% on the 2016 harvest, highlighting the fluctuation in the sector. The current year was driven by adverse weather conditions during key periods, which contributed to some late planting coupled with low rainfall and high temperatures in the following summer. Planted area in 2018 was also down to 118kha (291,500 acres), compared to 2017 at 122kha (301,400 acres) meaning that the variability in potato stocks was attributable to both yield and area. This resulted in some challenging contract situations and also high freebuy prices for non-contract purchases."