TRADE AND MARKETING German packaging company Elligsen hot on pünktlichkeit early spring, most early potatoes come from countries like Egypt and Israel. According to Elligsen, these potatoes don’t have the quality that the German storage potatoes have. ‘The texture and the taste, in particular, of the German potatoes are much, much better’, in the opinion of the potato expert. Elligsen annually packages a total of approximately 30,000 tons of table potatoes. Important varieties in his range are the Solist, Gala, Princess, Belana, Salome, Solara, Soraya and Gunda. All these varieties are grown by farmers in the surrounding area. Elligsen buys them as free varieties, but he makes agreements with the growers about the amount of potatoes to be delivered. Moreover, the trader has developed his own pooling system. The sales price for the buyer minus costs and profit margin results in the end price for the grower. This is a really friendly calculation method, for which the grower and the trading company must have great trust in each other. Prompt delivery Elligsen sells the table potatoes within a radius of 120 kilometres around his business. Transport is also paid by the company. In order to do that, Elligsen has organised his own fleet of lorries. ‘We must deliver promptly, which you can only do if you organise your own transport’, is the director’s experience. Companies that buy the packaged potatoes are discounters such as Aldi and Edeka. He supplies the table potatoes in 2.5 and 5 kg foil packaging. In addition, Elligsen has a separate small line for organically grown potatoes. The turnover has dropped a bit in recent years. Aldi now only buys 15 tons a week. When we looked into this some years ago, it transpired that the consumer mainly bought organic potatoes because they were sold in 2 kg bags. The regularly-grown potatoes were sold in bigger bags which were too big for some consumers. Since Elligsen has also started to supply regularly-grown potatoes in 2.5 kg bags, the sale of organic potatoes has dropped considerably. Own brand name In the coming years, Elligsen wants to invest further in a better quality of table potatoes at delivery. Meanwhile, Dirk Elligsen has developed his own brand under the name Elli’s Kartoffeln. He has printed the pictures of his carefree son and smiling daughter on the packaging. The back of the foil bags has a complete product description and includes the nutritional value of the potato. It is absolutely essential that we continue to improve the quality and the presentation, the owner commented. ‘The competition in the market is fierce. I’d rather not be part of that and go for supplying good quality. This means that you must continue to develop your company. Invest both in training for our thirty employees and in machinery.’ Washing makes a beautiful presentation. Dutch turnkey project The basis for the quality product was laid with the construction of a completely new business premises in 2008. For this purpose, the Dutch company Dijkstra in Emmeloord was commissioned to install an efficient washing, grading and packag26 Potato World 2011 • number 2 Pagina 25
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