REPORT PROCE S SORS HAVE DRIVEN UP THE CONTRACT PRICE ENORMOUS LY One of the biggest suppliers of processed products in the New Zealand is McCain. The Canadian company has MrChips and Tallys to compete with. MrChips processes about 50,000 tons of fresh potatoes annually and Tallys about 75,000 tons. To enter the McCain factory in the port of Timaru is not an easy task. You first need to read through a three-page document and sign it, after which the security man makes you watch a 7.5 minute film with safety instructions. After these more than thorough welcome procedures, the visitor is allowed to enter the premises. Once inside the heavilyguarded stronghold, we meet McCain staff member John Jackson who takes us for a guided tour. He tells us that 130,000 tons of potatoes are processed into chips and other potato products in Timaru every year. The company has the use of a state-of-the art chipping line. As New Zealand has only 4 million inhabitants, the factory depends heavily on exports. This is why Jackson has sixteen growers to grow his potatoes on contract. ‘It is a good way for us to calculate the total costs’ , he explains. ‘And we can go to the market with real quotes.’ The contract price went up considerably last year, Jackson says. Business-like approach As in the rest of the world, the growers in New Zealand have been confronted with sharp cost rises. ‘Growers are very businesslike as far as their crops are concerned. If they can’t earn enough, they simply stop The potatoes are stored in semi-circular silos up to a height of 6 metres John Jackson of McCain has sixteen growers to grow all his potatoes on contract WORLD POTATO CONGRESS AIMS FOR SUSTAINABILITY Growers from New Zealand have always been very loyal World Potato Congress visitors, wherever it was being held. They were rewarded for their loyalty with a home match in Christchurch. The New Zealand growers and trading companies are a group that wants to be kept informed of the latest developments in areas such as cultivation, technology, marketing and sustainability. New Zealand growers like to follow ongoing developments in other countries, and pick out all that may be useful for their own farm management. You see machinery from all parts of the world when you visit them on their farms. The New Zealanders had no trouble organising the World Potato Congress. They did not have a great deal of preparation time because of the sudden pull-out of France, which had initially been appointed to organise the event. Thanks to 290 growers who supported their organisation, Horticulture New Zealand, by putting up guarantees for 1 million NZ dollars, the event could be held after all. Considering the fantastic attendance and the long list of sponsors, these guarantees have most probably not been used. What was striking, however, was that not many visitors had travelled from Europe to New Zealand to be among the over five hundred participants. A pity, because the Congress programme was absolutely worth it. Under the theme ‘nourishing our future’, a wide range of speakers from all parts of the world had travelled to New Zealand for the occasion. They spoke, among other things, about current topics such as sustainability and how to deal with climate change, whereby recent research results about potatoes were highlighted. We will focus on all these topics in the next issues of Potato World magazine. Carbon Footprint Professor Andrew Fearne of the Kent Business School held a detailed introduction on CO2 in British supermarkets. He told us that the Tesco supermarket chains were very actively involved in this. He explained that ‘labelling’ includes 34 Potato World 2009 • number 4 Pagina 33
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