Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Raw Potato Cost
Raw potato cost is the economically relevant cost of potatoes entering a fresh or processing operation, not simply the invoice price per tonne. MassGain matches each purchase to its regional physical market and adds crop and storage context so buyers can combine price with freight, quality, shrink, solids, defects, and recovery to compare usable delivered cost.
Market Data
How to read this market
Raw potato cost is the economically relevant cost of potatoes entering a processing or fresh operation. It includes the purchase basis but can also be affected by freight, storage, quality, shrink, solids, defects, and usable recovery.
Use raw-potato data to compare supplier offers on delivered, quality-adjusted economics rather than headline price per tonne. Match each offer to the correct regional physical benchmark and crop period before adding plant-specific performance.
Data Module
Raw potato cost context
Purchase basiscontract, cash, or supplier price
Regionphysical sourcing market
Qualitysolids, defects, size, and condition
Freightdelivered-to-plant cost
Shrink and recoveryusable output from purchased tonnes
Decision usesupplier, standard-cost, and margin comparison
Analysis
Why this matters
The cheapest tonne can be the most expensive raw material if quality or freight is poor. Lower solids, more defects, or longer transit can increase waste, energy, and the number of tonnes needed per finished unit.
The key analytical measure is therefore usable delivered cost. External market data establishes whether the purchase price is reasonable; internal recovery determines how that potato performs economically. Keeping those layers distinct reveals whether margin pressure is market-driven or operational.
Signal 01
Usable Crop Uncertainty Index
UCUI translates crop and market complexity into a simple uncertainty signal. Higher readings indicate greater uncertainty—not necessarily higher prices.
Understand uncertainty. Anticipate risk. Act earlier.
UCUI is designed to analyze potato-industry publications and data signals across regions, varieties, weather, disease, storage, supply, and demand.
WeatherHigh
DiseaseHigh
StorageMedium
SupplyMedium
Single-day snapshot based on a scan of 11,500+ web and social signals. Get historical and real-time data by clicking the button below.
The MassGain Daily
Today’s market analysis.
A daily editorial synthesis of physical potato data, crop signals, market reporting, and what participants should watch next.
September 16, 2026Latest MassGain publication
Potato market steady for now; Russia’s smaller crop is the salient risk
Spot prices are flat and USDA terminal reports read ‘market steady,’ but a renewed forecast for a smaller Russian harvest and recent regional harvest stress leave seasonal import timing and storage losses as the key uncertainty.
Signal 02
MassGain Potato Index
Independent physical-pricing intelligence and market-trend analysis for procurement, forecasting, contracting, and scenario planning.
Core Russet Carton Median
312.45 USD/MT
Latest qualifying physical-market observation
+4.75 (+1.55%)
Price discovery for the physical potato market
MPI is designed to track physical pricing data, price trends, deltas, and divergences across regions and potato types.
Series window45 days
Current public coverageCore russet cartons
Primary source basisQualifying USDA physical rows
UnitUSD per metric tonne
Single-day snapshot based on most recent 45 days worth of data. Limited to US Russets only. Get more complete, global data about all varieties by clicking the button below.
Signal 03
MassGain Spot Reference
An independent spot reference designed for price discovery, contract discussions, procurement comparisons, and risk modeling.
Russet Burbank — U.S. Midsize
305 USD/MT
Demonstration reference format
+1.6% WoW · Confidence: High
A trusted benchmark for pricing, contracts, and risk
MSR is intended to use real transactions and verifiable physical-market data to support negotiations, price checks, contracting, and risk models.
ProductRusset Burbank
SpecificationU.S. midsize, 40–70 count
Reference typePhysical spot benchmark
StatusIn development
Based on most recent 45 days worth of data. Limited to US Russets only. Get more complete, global data about all varities by clicking the button below. Full access also includes historical data -- including depreciated NYMEX/CBOE/EEX spot references -- projections, trends, and AI-driven insights.
The MassGain Product Ladder
From insight to intelligence to action
Four integrated products built for the physical potato market, delivered through public pages, reports, exports, dashboards, and API access.
1
Content
Original research, commentary, aggregated news, and market updates.
- What matters right now?
- What is happening out there?
2
UCUI™
Usable Crop Uncertainty Index: an AI-powered signal of crop risk and market uncertainty.
- Understand uncertainty
- Anticipate risk
- Act earlier
3
MPI™
MassGain Potato Index: independent physical-pricing intelligence and trend analysis.
- Price discovery
- Regional trends
- Procurement planning
4
MSR™
MassGain Spot Reference: an independent benchmark for price discovery and risk modeling.
- Contracts
- Negotiations
- Risk models
Content + UCUI + MPI + MSR + API access
Get historical series, regional detail, constituent data, exports, alerts, and direct data access.
Overview
Who is this for?
This page is for food processors, procurement teams, growers, lenders, and finance users that need to understand raw potato cost before conversion into fries, chips, flakes, starch, or other products. Raw potato cost is shaped by region, variety, crop year, contract status, quality, solids, storage, delivery timing, freight, and the amount of usable material recovered at the plant. MassGain helps users identify the correct physical-market benchmark and avoid treating a generic potato headline as the input cost for every operation.
The cheapest quoted tonne is not necessarily the lowest-cost raw material. Weak solids, excessive defects, longer transport, storage deterioration, or poor size distribution can raise the cost per usable tonne or finished unit. MassGain connects regional prices and crop conditions with quality, storage, and availability signals so teams can build a transparent bridge from origin price to delivered and quality-adjusted cost. Procurement can compare supplier offers, finance can maintain standard costs, operations can value yield differences, and lenders can stress processor margins. The result is a commercially meaningful raw-potato measure that distinguishes market movement from plant-specific quality, logistics, and recovery effects.
Use Case
A potato-flake plant compares two raw-potato offers. One is cheaper per tonne but has lower solids and a longer freight lane. MassGain supplies the matched regional benchmarks, while the plant adds recovery and energy data. The higher origin price ultimately produces the lower cost per finished tonne of flakes.
FAQs
What determines raw potato cost?
Region, variety, contract timing, quality, solids, storage, freight, defects, and usable recovery all matter.
Why is price per tonne insufficient?
A lower purchase price can be offset by freight, shrink, defects, or weaker processing yield.
How does MassGain support raw-material comparison?
It matches offers to relevant physical markets and provides crop, storage, quality, and regional context.
Put this market intelligence to work
Get historical data, regional detail, benchmarks, alerts, exports, and API access tailored to your procurement
and market-analysis needs.
Data and Methodology
Professional market-data standards
MassGain is building transparent public market infrastructure. Each live metric will identify its date, unit, coverage, methodology, and source basis.
Data provenance
MassGain uses public, licensed, contributed, and independently derived physical-market information. Source availability and publication schedules vary.
Timing and revisions
Figures may reflect the latest available observation rather than a same-day transaction. Source data and MassGain calculations may be corrected, restated, or revised.
Not transactional pricing
MassGain figures are informational reference values and do not constitute executable bids, offers, settlements, or guarantees that a transaction can occur at the displayed value.
No individualized advice
Content and data are provided for informational and analytical purposes and do not constitute financial, investment, legal, trading, or individualized procurement advice.
Independent publication
Certain observations may be derived from USDA reports. MassGain is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USDA.
Commercial use and licensing
Public display does not grant rights to reproduce, redistribute, republish, or incorporate MassGain indices or references into commercial products or contracts without authorization.