Agrico wants to be the largest in the world TRADE AND MARKETING Let’s start in the Netherlands. How do you think you can achieve an increase in acreage in this country? ‘Our farmers have recently started to grow potatoes independently. By convincing them to work solely with Agrico again, we hope to place 1,000 hectares of extra seed for cultivation. Because the modern grower thinks first and foremost of his own purse, we can help fill those purses by offering excellent varieties and operational excellence and, of course, good payment. These are the arguments that may bring them all back again. It goes without saying that we have to hold on to these members, because the market is highly competitive, and I don’t see many other opportunities for growing extra acreages of seed potatoes in the Netherlands. As a result of the planned growth, we will be able to structurally increase by up to 50,000 tons.’ Where will you sell this planned structural growth of 50,000 tons? ‘This is not a figure out of the blue. With our sales team, we’re drawing up a long-term marketing plan. At this moment, about 50 percent of our seed goes to EU countries, 30 percent goes to countries outside the EU, and 20 percent is sold within the Netherlands itself. In total, eighty countries buy Agrico seed. In Europe, a major consumption potato market where14 million tons of potatoes are processed within a circle of 300 kilometres around Brussels, the industry has expanded enormously in recent years. Because of the local nematode problems and the expanding industries in Belgium, we’re certainly able to grow there. This development will give the Belgian growers a new experience. And one that provides a more steady and bigger yield than the Bintje has done. In the Netherlands itself, we’ve more or less reached the limit of our seed potato sales. If we grow even further, it would only make the industry nervous. Also, as far as the seed potato export markets are concerned, we see interesting possibilities in overseas areas such as North Africa and the Middle East. These world regions are currently focusing mainly on bulk varieties of the Spunta type. Anyway, this variety still forms 80 percent of the export to these countries. This is why we, as Agrico, are also increasing our Spunta acreage. However, we’re keenly searching for new varieties in this segment. For the big tuber varieties with high yields, we have high expectations of the white-skinned Arizona, Faluca and Saviola varieties. Also in the red-skinned varieties, we have a good selection with the Kuroda, Rudolph and Lusa (a variety with enormous tubers) to replace the Désirée and Kondor.’ How are you going to organise this logistically? Deliveries didn’t go too well last year, did they? ‘Selling is one thing; delivery is a different matter altogether. Last year, we nearly got into trouble with our logistics, because our new computer program wasn’t quite ready. We’d started to work with the program while still in the testing phase. In addition, we’d sold too many potatoes and the grades were not as we’d expected. Fortunately, the new system is running really smoothly now and the logistics are also going according to plan. And we need to make sure this doesn’t change. You see, we go for operational excellence, which means we want to stand out from others. And that’s necessary because we supply a great deal to French-fry potato growers in Europe. This last spring, we had to deliver 120,000 tons of seed potatoes within four weeks. It’s much calmer in the organisation if you can agree with the customer as early as in January when certain varieties can be delivered. By linking the varieties to the seed potato growers as quickly as possible – depending on the weather conditions – all the potatoes get shipped on time.’ What is the role of new varieties? ‘Forty years ago, Agrico was founded on the basis of varieties and cultivation. DTV, a cooperative in the province of Drenthe, had contracts with renowned breeders such as Mansholt, Dijkhuis, Könst and Vegter with their famous varieties. The Zuyder Zee polders and PZVB, a seed potato and plant breeding company in the province of Groningen, had the fertile seed potato land. Today, after forty years, breeders and their varieties still form the basis of our cooperative. Varieties are an important spearhead in our strategic planning. We’ll have to market 13,500 hectares of seed annually in the near future. We ‘We’re into bulk, not niches.’ need varieties that can be grown over large areas and aren’t difficult to grow. We’re into bulk, not niches. What we’re after is fewer varieties and more acres per variety. We’re looking for traditional varieties that stand out for their specificity. This development fits perfectly with the trend where chips have become a commodity. So our major buyers – the processing industries – are going to decrease the number of varieties. A company like McCain in Lelystad must be able to keep going with its production of French fries without having to change varieties four times a day. That’s the future, in my view, and we’ve got the varieties to do just that. An example is the Fontane variety. We’re growing over 2,500 hectares of this successful variety this year, with a total yield of 100,000 tons. Is GMO still going to play a role in the development of varieties in the coming year? ‘The door is closed for GMO. We’re not alone in that. Companies such as BASF and AVERIS have also said goodbye to GMO. The boundary between cisgeneses and transgeneses is so diffuse that no politician is going to get his fingers burnt on that right now. They’ve kept BASF dangling for years. At the time they stopped in Europe, permission for the modified variety had still not been accepted. You don’t want to know how many non-GMO certificates I have to sign if I want to supply seed potatoes in big potato countries like Algeria, for example. If I see how far we’ve come in our conventional breeding programme in respect of Phytophthora resistance, GMO doesn’t Potato World 2013 • number 3 5 Pagina 4
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