TRADE AND MARKETING Innovation necessary for worldwide trend towards packaged potatoes our competitors, our TwinBag also has net material as the basis. We call this Claf, which is a material that stops moisture remaining in the bag. This shows that the American market is also increasingly open to innovation.’ from discolouring on the brightly-lit shelves in the supermarkets. In addition, we’ve manufactured small jute packaging for table potatoes for countries such as Austria, because the consumers in that country have a prefer‘I’m convinced that automation will gain the upper hand in our sector.’ Why do you only manufacture packaging and not machinery? ‘We’ve chosen to deal exclusively in packaging and not to invest in packaging machines. We do work together with machine manufacturers, though. A recent example is a foil packaging whereby a smart machine automatically wraps potatoes in aluminium foil. We develop the foil and the manufacturer develops the machine. The advantage of this system is that we can collaborate with all machine manufacturers. An increasing number of customers realise that proper packaging contributes substantially to durability. We’re trying to develop packaging that resembles the skin of a product or that optimally protects the product. An example is a special opaque foil that prevents potatoes ence for sustainable material. Jute is a natural product that’s grown in Bangladesh. The jute is harvested locally and made into bags. It’s an easilydegradable product and decomposes into natural substances. We can also use this knowledge in America because we’re seeing a growing interest in natural products here, too. These developments in the various markets are easily picked up because NNZ is active all over the world. The various branches strengthen each other. We meet at least three times a year as a management team. For example, twice in Groningen and once on location. We all bring the latest products from our own areas and that’s how we develop as an organisation. Because we’re a real trading organisation, we’re looking for the best partners to produce our new packaging and packaging concepts.’ What is the role of purchasing for you as a trading organisation? ‘We advise our customers so that they can deliver the added value to their clients. To supply our customers optimally, we select packaging and packaging materials from all over the world so we can offer them the best solutions in constantly innovating markets and packaging processes. In order to do this we have a product manager for each group who visits the suppliers in the various businesses personally. Personal contact is very important because we set strict standards regarding quality and continuity, but we also insist that no child labour is ever used. For each group, we usually have three to four suppliers who provide our branches worldwide. What will your organisation be like in five years’ time? ‘I’m convinced that automation will gain the upper hand in our sector. This will mean that manufacturers will expect foil to be more versatile. That’s good for a company which considers innovation of paramount importance. So we have our own innovation and marketing department in Groningen that translates trends into products. And it will become increasingly important that our customers are able to order all their packaging materials at one address. Also, the fourth Boot generation will soon make its entrance in the company. A cousin of Len and myself has been working for a big multinational for some years now and will come in to strengthen our sales and marketing department at the beginning of next year. This will also secure the continuity of our family business.’ ● Jaap Delleman ‘We’ve chosen to deal exclusively in packaging and not to invest in packaging machines’, says Marco Boot. Potato World 2015 • number 4 7 Pagina 6

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