Focus on taste and quality at Flevostar Potato TRADE AND MARKET I NG is a strong counterpart of the Kennebec, a big variety that comes third after the Agria and the Monalisa as far as acreage is concerned. With a new variety like the Divaa, we’ll be able to provide added value in this market segment. I’m convinced that the Divaa will be a successful and tasteful fast food French-fry variety in the near future.’ Looking for intensification ‘When I look at the international customers, it strikes me that we do business with relatively few clients. This suits me down to the ground. It’s our aim to work with one or two companies in an area and intensify our contacts with them’, Verhage explains. ‘In Spain, we collaborate closely with the StaayFoodGroup in Papendrecht for export and with two local trading companies. This way, we’re also able to set up local cultivation. Due to the changing climate, it’s become important to spread the cultivation risks. The weather risk is increasing every year - as this year has again shown. If you know what’s happening in Europe, you can anticipate based on that, which is why we’re extending our network fast. In addition to Spain, we already have joint undertakings in countries such as Poland, Malta, Cyprus and Greece. The knowledge we’re gaining there about the perception in the market is shared with our growers and buyers via a weekly bilingual communication on our website. The companies abroad also share market information in this bulletin. In addition, we have a growers’ drop-in every Wednesday morning. This is on the same day as the Dronten potato exchange used to be. We are not listed, but we like to share our perception of the market personally with the growers’, Verhage explains. ‘Young farmers are reflecting more on what the trade is all about. A large number of farmers aren’t only at work on their land, but are also much more to be found behind their screens checking what the market is doing. This has led to ‘If you have your own variety, you can offer a complete package.’ a network where people call each other to get a feeling for the market. We can bind these growers to our company by offering them continuity’, Corné Kodde speaks from his own experience. ‘Attracting and binding growers is very important to us. In the past, Flevostar only cultivated 20 percent itself and 80 percent was purchased in. We want to turn this around in the short term to 80 percent self cultivation and 20 percent purchased for our own products. Self cultivation doesn’t necessary mean that you have a contract. We want to build a relationship with a grower whereby we both aim to increase the quality together. We’ll also be following the progress of the crop, so that we’ll always know during the growing process what quality we´ll need to sell. This will give us an early picture of which market we can sell our potatoes to. We also want to market and translate the added value of a good crop that we’re creating together into a realistic ‘In order to be even more distinctive ourselves further in the market, this autumn we’ll introduce our own label with the name Williams Potatoes’, says William Verhage enthusiastically. potato price. If the price range in the market is between 17 and 20 euros, we’ll go for the top, 20 euros and not for 17. But we’ll also accept 17 euro potatoes for our growers, because potatoes grow outdoors, and one heavy shower can mess up the quality within a few hours’, Verhage explains. New brand name with Williams Potatoes ‘In order to be even more distinctive in the market, this autumn we’ll introduce our own label with the name Williams Potatoes. With this catchy name, we’ll be instantly internationally oriented. This autumn, we’ll start with home-fried chips and peeled products under this brand name. We’ll be able to market this brand via Willem Dijk. Again, this is about taste and the funny puppet on the packaging is to demonstrate the exclusiveness of the product’, says Verhage. Looking at the coming five years, the director sees Flevostar Potato developing into an all-round potato company ‘We’ll expand in the trade of ware potatoes, export, and the domestic market as well as the cultivation of seed potatoes from our own varieties. Concentrating on only one segment would make us vulnerable. If you offer better quality than your competitors, then you’ll add something to the current potato market. Only then can we outstrip France in five years’ time, both in external quality and in taste.’ If you’re interested in getting to know Flevostar Potato and its staff, the company has Open Days at their offices in Dronten on 26 and 27 August. Jaap Delleman Potato World 2016 • number 4 9 Pagina 8
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