TRADE AND MARKETING ‘We don’t want to be the people that can do it cheaper than anyone else’ Just call around the world In his search for a market for his products, Franzen first examined nearby possibilities such as the supply to wholesalers. ‘The retail trade isn’t a simple business. In the Netherlands, the supplies to supermarkets are already tightly covered by the well-known names and they’re doing it really well. In this world, it’s all or nothing. I’ve talked many times with the supermarkets about supply possibilities. They’d like to do business with us in respect of traceability, no problem. But I’d need to deliver large quantities every year, right from the start. And the potatoes must be delivered in 2.5 and 5 kilogram bags of baby potatoes and table potatoes, and categorised as firm, floury, etc. The still-existing packagers are very good at what they do, there are only a few left in a shrinking market. Where traceability in the chain is concerned, a point in our favour is that we grow, store and package ourselves. I don’t think you can be more sustainable. So we’re looking further afield in the world. Just by picking up the telephone and simply calling countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria, Trinidad, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Barbados, Romania, Israel and Malaysia. Last ‘When you’re declared infected, people apparently think: “they must have used illegal seed”. ’ season was the real moment of truth. We may have succeeded in packaging and shipping 9,000 tons, but that definitely didn’t happen without some hard knocks.’ A lot of competition, bad prices At the start, the competition was fierce and the prices bad. There were also payment problems. ‘We don’t want to be the people that can do it cheaper than anyone else. We want to do business with parties that guarantee purchase continuity and are reliable payers. But you do need to get to know your buyers first. That takes time. This also applies to learning how to deal with delays in ports and problems with loading and unloading. Eventually, this could, of course, lead to quality problems, because the products are sometimes washed and therefore don’t keep as well as unwashed potatoes. Faraway countries often require washed potatoes because they no longer want to import attached soil. I’m thinking of buyers in cities such as Dubai and Doha, for example. I’d very much like to find a quick solution to a longer life for my washed product. If there’s someone who has an answer to that, I’d like to hear it. For example, a very strong, white-fleshed table potato variety that stores easily and can endure washing.’ The mood is more positive now ‘Altogether, it was a very difficult time’, is Franzen’s open and honest conclusion after the past trading year. ‘And yet, I have no regrets. I’ve been able to build up a few valuable business relations, such as with the Arabs. Now the market’s improving, I can immediately start taking appropriate action. Look, what I see as a big advantage of direct marketing of your own product is that you benefit from square-sized potatoes. Thanks to grading potatoes and carrots, you can get a good price in a normal trading year. We couldn’t really make it this year because both undersizes and oversizes were pretty useless. The 70-up was only tare so far. So, I’ve graded them and left them in storage. Now the market’s improving, I can sell them for specific export purposes. The mood is more positive. The southern countries harvest less and later, as a result of which other countries are still more interested in the old crop. I’ve been successful on this score thanks to my last year’s contacts. And one thing’s clear: faraway countries are also focused on quality and the internet market is so much more transparent. For example, I delivered containers with Challenger to Iraq and Dubai. And here, too, they only want first-rate products at a competitive price. In the past year, for example, we came into contact with Holland Food Trade in Warmenhuizen, a young dynamic club. Via a tender, they were asked to look for traceable, certified high-quality potatoes, onions and carrots. The buyer in question didn’t want any more rubbish. Every month now, we transport three to five containers to various destinations in the world.’ Grow as long as health permits ‘What will the situation be in five years’ time? Assuming that we still have a healthy body and a healthy business, the only thing I want is to market my own crops, expand that and maybe also sell crops from nearby fellow-growers. I’m looking for growers who believe in this marketing system so that we can also guarantee continuity. The only thing is that this is a specialised business. It’s about potatoes, carrots and onions. You see, I don’t plan to start packaging 100,000 tons or more. We’re currently packaging 15,000 tons of potatoes, carrots and onions every year. If we can grow towards 30,000 tons of produce in the coming 15 years, I’ll be happy.‘ ● Leo Hanse Potato World 2015 • number 4 17 Pagina 16
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