TRADE AND MARKETING China wants to secure its food supply with potatoes China is a booming business, also where potatoes are concerned, because the Chinese government has indicated that it wants to invest heavily in the cultivation of potatoes. With 50 percent subsidy on investments, the government wants to encourage growers to take the cultivation of potatoes to a higher level. This is really necessary, among other things, to supply the French-fry manufactories with a better basic product. But also, of course, to secure the food supply and not to depend too much on rice. If you want to be part of this, the World Potato Congress in the Chinese capital of Beijing is an absolute must. The Dutch companies HZPC and Aviko are already active in this country. HZPC sells 750,000 tons of seed potatoes to China with a value of over 300 million euros. Aviko thinks it can almost increase the production of French fries fourfold there. T his year, China will be in the spotlight of international trade and industry. Many companies here see a growth market for their products. And the potato is one of them. Not only because the European trade wants this to happen, but also because the Chinese government itself has indicated that it wants to stimulate the cultivation of potatoes significantly. The agricultural sector is therefore very interesting for European agricultural trade and industry. Where mechanisation, cultivation and processing of produce are concerned, the Dutch enterprises are already very much on the ball. ‘This will definitely increase significantly in the coming years’, expects Dick Zelhorst, Director of Raw Materials at Aviko. ‘We want to double the production capacity in our latest French-fry factory in Inner Mongolia this year. The goal here is to start producing over 100,000 tons of French fries from over 200,000 tons of potatoes in the coming years.’ The French-fry manufacturer already has two plants in operation in this Asian super power. Since 2007, one in the province of Gansu for the production of potato flakes, and since two years ago, one in Inner Mongolia, which specialises in frozen chips. Zelhorst emphasises that the factories are most successful. ‘In Gansu, we already made a profit in the second year. That’s quite exceptional for a new factory. The reason is that we’re working closely together with the local authorities. Together, we started up a joint venture in which we have 55 percent of the shares and the Chinese 45 percent. In this joint venture, the Chinese government is responsible for the infrastructure and the potato production and we do the production of French fries and the marketing of the end product’, the enthusiastic potato man explains. Local French fry production ‘Once you’re active in China, you learn the culture and the way of doing business. That’s how we came across the Snow Valley company. This company operates in the cultivation of consumption potatoes, the multiplication of seed, table potatoes and rapid multiplication. In addition, they want to invest in chips. We joined forces to produce French fries together locally. This was a must because the big buyers such as McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC want locally-produced French fries in their local branches. The potato processing industries such as Simplot, McCain, LambWeston and Farm Frites are also active in China or are planning to start together Potato World 2015 • number 2 5 Pagina 4
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