TRADE AND MARKETING profit-sharing.’ place their brand products on the market, but failed. Failing like this costs millions. Some factories drop out for that reason and opt for the lower-priced market. Consumers whose expectations of high-quality and innovative products from recognisable A-brands are continuously disappointed, pull out. A-brands offer opportunities, but carry obligations as well! The slogan noblesse oblige definitely applies to A-brand chips. But I must also come back to what I said about prices earlier on. For us, the price difference between Belgium and the Netherlands is an awkward situation. It manoeuvres us into an unfortunate competitive position. Look what has happened in America. The growers there succeeded in forcing higher contract prices, at the same time causing losses in the processing industry, subsequently damaging their own market. What we now see is that manufacturers are busy re-negotiating their contracts because they are losing in the international market. In Europe, we are confronted with the same market mechanisms. Meanwhile, we are no longer talking about a European market, but about a world market with world players.’ Is China part of that? ‘Absolutely. We are now also supplying China with a great many potato products and have subsequently become America’s competitors. This trading is mainly the result of the low transport costs and the relatively higher price of the American potatoes. Container ships carrying a variety of goods are arriving from China throughout the whole year. Many ships sail back empty, because the trade towards China is much less. This means that transport by ship in that direction is very cheap, as a result of which many potato products are now going that way. Whether you ship products to China from Europe or from America doesn’t make a great deal of difference distance-wise. The same applies to exports to South America.’ Regional stock exchanges have higher prices than Rotterdam. What is your view on that? ‘That is bizarre, of course, but in spite of that it is very difficult to give an opinion about prices. I often wonder what the weighted average price that was paid this week would be. This is difficult to find out, which is why I am so interested. The discussion revolves around the level of the low and the high prices. A weighted average price would be a better representation of the market, I would think.’ Is there any sense in still having stock exchange prices, do you think? ‘I have no idea where this will go. But what I do know is that more and more industries are buying potatoes straight from the grower. This means that the trade in this section is becoming increasingly less of a player. That makes it rather difficult for Rotterdam as compared to prices in Emmeloord and Goes. It is basically difficult, today, to earn any money in the trade. That is what I am seeing. When Rotterdam has lower prices than the growers, there is no margin potential for the trade. If the prices are a clear reflection of what has been traded, we have to conclude that the added value of the stock exchange, specifically for trade, is rather insignificant. But it is actually the growers who are saying that these distorted prices are the fault of the trade. ‘I don’t want to think or talk in terms of fault. What I don’t mind saying is that, as partners in the sector, we shouldn’t fight each other with accusations. As potato processors, we are not the growers’ competitors – we are the buyers, and the growers are each others’ competitors in Europe. This means that the Dutch growers must distinguish themselves in quality and must count every penny. These are the same factors in which we, too, must distinguish ourselves. So, we have a joint objective and we must realise that the only way forward is together. The more we fight, the worse it will become. We must make our presence felt in a very competitive market. We hand over our profits to the shareholders. That profit will ultimately be for the benefit of the agricultural sector. I am a staunch advocate of a form of direct profit-sharing. A potato grower who shares his risk with us and who sells his potatoes to us can, as far as I am concerned, share in the Aviko profit. We are currently thinking about this and we are looking for a suitable construction to give this proper shape.’ A look to the future. Where are we going with the potato market in the coming years, do you think? ‘The acreages will not change. In my view, we won’t see any changes there. I believe that the shift that has begun between clay and sand acreages will continue further, to the cost of the clay acreages. Most probably, the whole discussion about potato cyst nematodes will reveal this summer exactly where the problems lie. On sandy soils, the potato node nematode has already become an enormous threat. For us as an industry, these are important matters to keep an eye on, because we are absolutely dependent on our growers. We will have to bind the good growers to us. Moreover, the Netherlands is the breeding ground for the European potato processing industry. Processing was once started in America but has subsequently settled and developed in the Netherlands. A lot of processing capacity crowded in a small space. This just happened because potato growing was done best in the Netherlands and it still is. I am absolutely convinced of that. If we as an industry look around for a place to start a factory, the quality of the cultivation of potatoes in that location is the foremost important factor. This is how it was and this is how it still is.’ ● Jaap Delleman Potato World 2010 • number 2 5 Pagina 4

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