TRADE AND MARKETING ‘We don’t want to be the people that can do it cheaper than anyone else’ F rank Franzen is a busy man. Depending on priority, of course, making an appointment with him may take some time. ‘Is it convenient?’ ‘No, sorry, call me tomorrow morning, if that’s okay. I’ll be in the car then on my way to Poland.’ Over a year ago, Franzen Landbouw, the family business he runs, organised a very successful Open Day at their main place of business in Dirksland. The entrepreneur was then facing a new challenge. When we met at the Open Day, he thought it too early for an interview about his newly-started packaging activities. ‘Come back in a year’, he said. A year later, en route to faraway clients, he still has some doubts. There’s a commitment, he knows. On the other hand, it’s only been a few years that he’s been packaging for export. This year was difficult. With a lot of effort, however, he’s laid a solid basis for the future. So it may be a good time to tell his story now, Franzen reasons. He makes an appointment in his busy agenda after all. Arab visitors ‘I’m still waiting for one very important call that I need to answer’, Franzen apologises before the start of the carefullyplanned interview. ‘We’re expecting visitors in the coming week. It’s a party of Arabs. They’re important customers, a Sheik and his entourage. They are in Amsterdam, and want to visit us as well. This year, I’ve succeeded in making satisfactory arrangements for supplying our home-grown and packaged products (carrots, onions and potatoes) all year round on a weekly basis. They’re going to call in a minute about the time of arrival and programme schedule here.’ Barely a minute later, after the entrepreneur had started outlining the history of the family business, the telephone rings and the arrival of the Arab party is being discussed. Dramatic events In his story, which was resumed after the brief telephone call and which can be read on Franzen Landbouw’s website, two dramatic events are discussed. They are experiences that affected Frank personally and have also determined the current status of the company. The first event is soon after the moment that, after his studies (Secondary Agricultural School and Master of Business Administration) and having worked elsewhere, he steps into the family business on New Year’s Day 2000 and enters into a partnership with his father Gert. On 2 May of that same year, a date that’s still stamped on his memory, his right leg gets stuck under a planting machine and he’s severly injured. In his period of recovery and physical therapy he thinks, so what now? It looks as if his body won’t be strong enough to take part in the practical work on the farm for at least some years. There’s nothing wrong with his brain though. For this reason, a year later from his place in the farm office, Frank decided to start a compost business together with his partner Florus van der Paauw. ‘Buying and selling soil improvers, buying and selling biomass.’ This trade, under the name Comgoed, is doing very well. It gives enough distraction from his handicap, which is getting progressively better. ‘Where traceability in the chain is concerned, a point in our favour is that we grow, Worked hard While running the compost and biomass business, however, he doesn’t lose sight of the crop farm. Together with his father, he enthusiastically continues working, among other things, on the steady growth of the acreage. ‘We worked very hard during those years’, Frank emphasises the drive of the two partners towards expansion. In 2002, they took a first big step with the purchase of their neighbours’ crop farm. Our acreage doubled in one go. ‘We quickly found out that expansion hardly makes any difference in farm management. Moreover, we regarded growth as a must, essential to keep the business profitable. You come across advantages such as the synergy of large-scale purchasing and the more efficient use of machinery. Land will always be expensive, however, over the years, we’ve been averaging out and we’re constantly checking the profitability of the business. The cropping plan now includes 400 hectares, all very good land, and large, rectangular plots, with light, sandy loam to intermediate clay in the topsoil, well drained, and fresh water for irrigation all around. You could say that three-quarters of the plots, on average, have 20 percent clay fractions, and one-quarter between 30 and 40 percent. Ideal for the cultivation of crops such as potatoes, carrots, tulips, onions and sugar beet and alternated with cereals and peas, which Franzen Landbouw has in its cropping plan. We had a wonderful feeling until… For decades, the potato crop has been very important for the 14 Potato World 2015 • number 4 Pagina 13
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