TRADE AND MARKETING tato story ‘Y ou must take control and create your own sales channel’, is Van den Dries’ firm conviction. ‘If you want to change something in the table potato market, you need to do it yourself. Nobody will help you’, is his experience. A few years ago, too, Van den Dries attracted attention by travelling to Dam square in Amsterdam with a trailer of potatoes and giving them away to passers-by. What he asked and got was attention for the fact that the potatoes on the shelves in the supermarkets were much too cheap. His latest initiative – a Pop Up Shop – is again a remarkable attention-getter for the potato. ‘You quite often see Pop Up Shops in town. For a short period, they sell a product such as shoes or clothing. I hadn’t seen an initiative like this for potatoes before. And that’s why, for two weeks in October, I opened a Pop Up Shop for potatoes. The aim was to investigate whether this form of selling is viable. At the same time, I wanted to introduce the diversity of the potato to the consumer’, he enthusiastically explains. ‘When you want to introduce something new and spectacular, I think you should do it in our capital Amsterdam. This is the ‘epicentre’ of the culinary world in the Netherlands.’ A lot of interest ‘My mother lives in Hoevelaken. She told me that the Potato Boutique had opened quite close to where I live. She’d heard it on the radio’, tells an enthusiastic visitor to the boutique. ‘I like this initiative.’ I think it’s amazing that there are so many different potatoes. I didn’t know that there are so many wonderful varieties. The clear descriptions of the taste and the special colours of the unknown varieties, appeal to me. They look special and also taste delicious. I think it important to be conscious about what we eat at home. We want to pay more for that. Locally-produced food with a good taste is important for me’, she explains. With a broad Amsterdam accent, another lady mentions that the water in her pot had turned completely pink after boiling. ‘Very special. I reserved the water because the water from boiled potatoes is very healthy. A pity you’re only here for such a short time, because that variety presentation really appeals to me’, she tells me. Van den Dries, who also publicised his initiative via a website, and on Facebook and Twitter, says that the potatoes can also be ordered online. ‘Look, this type of reaction really make me happy. I’ve noticed that people are interested in trying something new. They’re also coming back for more. The fact that we’re receiving many positive reactions on the Facebook page of the Potato Boutique shows that potatoes are now getting a lot of attention. Apart from distributing potatoes with the Facebook page stamp of the Potato Boutique, we haven’t done a lot more on promotion. Yet, there’s been a great deal of interest. There was a lot of attention for our initiative in dailies such as Trouw and Parool, on the local AT5 television channel and on national radio. All the youngsters are on Facebook and Twitter. And that’s why you can still reach many people with a low-budget approach’, is the opinion of Van den Dries. In view of the great number of youngsters visiting the boutique, this communication method seems to work well. Lack of knowledge What Van den Dries noticed most during the fortnight on Dam square is the lack of knowledge about the potato. ‘People don’t seem to know which potato to use for which dish. I’ve grown potatoes myself and I know what you can do with them. People are really interested in my Potato World 2015 • number 1 5 Pagina 4
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