TRADE AND MARKET I NG Requested: new HDS varieties due to a sharp rise in flakes and granule production ‘We want new varieties as soon as possible for the cultivation of special High Dry Matter (HDM) potatoes, because the production of high-quality flakes and granules needs to increase significantly within two years.’ That’s the important message that Aviko Rixona in Venray recently presented to all leading breeders in the Netherlands during a Breeders Day organised specifically for them. T here’s still a lot to be done when developing such HDM varieties, because the customers of the processing industry are placing ever higher demands on the end product. This also requires varieties with a broad range of characteristics. Now you don’t just go ahead and start developing an HDM variety, you need to know what the manufacturer’s requirements are. This is why Rixona provides the breeders with extensive explanations, including a tour of the factory. Director Otto van de Gronden sets the ball rolling with a market view. ‘The market for potato flake products is growing rapidly, but not everyone in the potato sector knows how fast this is happening. In the year 2018 we’re operating in a world that’s rapidly changing. For example, trade is no longer limited to domestic borders, but we operate in an economy with the entire world as our playing field. It’s not the Netherlands, but Europe that is our home market and what goes beyond that, we call export. In this world arena, we have customers and consumers who are setting ever-increasing quality requirements. Whereas, in the ‘The market for potato flakes products is growing rapidly, but not everyone in the potato sector knows how fast this is happening’, Director Otto van der Gronden tells the group of breeders. past, the French-fry factories said they’d keep the big potatoes themselves and the small ones were for flakes or fodder no matter what variety, today it no longer works that way. Our customers are increasingly demanding multiple types of products and are becoming ever more critical. You have flakes or granules for mash, but we also make granules for snacks, pretzels and a lot more. For each purpose, a separate mixture is now needed with its own specific requirements, such as colour, composition and taste’, says the director enthusiastically. ‘For each purpose, a separate mixture is now needed with its own specific requirements, such as colour, composition and taste’ Potato World 2018 • number 2 Decreasing residual flows Another market change that Van der Gronden mentions is that of the constantly decreasing availability of residual flows from French-fry manufacturers. ‘In recent decades, more and more potato processors have started to reuse their own raw materials. As a result, we’ve recently started to go out to farmers more often and sign contracts with them directly for supplying suitable flake potatoes. It was quite difficult when we started with this, especially from a financial point of view, because we were used to residual flows for low prices. The demand for a higher price from the growers who were going to supply us directly was, of course, justified, it was only that it was difficult to explain this price increase in the beginning. It’s much better now, because since they them31 Pagina 30
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