6 questions to Leon van Meir
There will be extra land for potato cultivation
The name from Meir we mainly know as the onion pool pioneer. From Steenbergen in Brabant, it started selling onions in a pool context twelve years ago. The cultivation, processing and marketing of potatoes has always existed alongside this. However, this segment is growing due to market demand. Reason to start a new era, as the company itself indicates.
The first noticeable change within the company is the name and house style. It changes from Van Meir Uien BV to Van Meir Onions & Potatoes. This includes a new corporate identity and website. These are the first steps of the growing company, explains owner Leon van Meir. In addition to sorting, packaging and trading onions and potatoes, Van Meir runs his own arable farm in North Brabant and grows potatoes and onions in Belgium. This industry plays an important role within the whole, as becomes clear in the interview.
According to a message on your website, Van Meir is entering a new era. What exactly do you mean by this?
'Since the onion pool started twelve years ago, the company has grown into a very professional company. The trade in seed and consumption potatoes has always taken place alongside the onion branch, but is occupying an increasingly important position. We are growing in the entire potato segment. This mainly concerns the export market of table and chips potatoes, but also the trade in chips potatoes for the domestic market, suitable for laundry use and potato chips.'
Isn't it a tricky time to expand in potatoes? Think of the availability of seed potatoes, soil and the growing power of the chip factories.
'In the market we notice a very broad demand for the various sales channels. Growers are looking. Not every potato grower wants to do business with a large chips factory. This often concerns permanent relations who, for example, are also affiliated with us for the onions. Our working area is therefore the same. Mainly Southwest Netherlands, but also a part of Limburg and Belgium. We are completely free in our sales options and have no links with potato processors. Some dairy farms are closing this year. That is why extra land is released for potato cultivation. Arable farmers would like to pay for it, but with a bit of certainty. They are looking for sales and that is where our role lies. For example, we see an increasing interest in the offshore segment.'
Will we also see a potato pool at Van Meir in the future? After all, you have a lot of experience in onions to build on.
'A comparable sales method as with onions is not possible for us. Sales are too broad and too diverse. There are many different varieties, which are grown specifically for one purpose, and the market segments are also different. One pool with one price is therefore not possible.'
The seed potato shortage is high on the agenda of every potato grower and processor. How do you tackle this?
'We have traditionally been propagating seed potatoes on our own arable farm. We grow about eighty percent of the seed potatoes under our own management. The rest is purchased. Of course we notice that there is a seed potato scarcity, but this does not immediately cause problems for us. We have, however, adapted our variety package so that it better meets the wishes of the customer. It makes no sense to grow a (free) variety for which there is no demand. We have been propagating seed potatoes from the mini tubers for ten years now. For example, we control the consumption cultivation from starting material to the bag for the customer. This closed cycle is unique in the potato world. Our seed potatoes are of high quality. As a result, the ware potatoes are also virtually disease-free. This is the only way we can export high-quality potatoes.'
You are familiar with the cultivation of onions and (seed) potatoes in Belgium. Do you also do business in potatoes and onions there?
'At our company in Belgium, we also propagate seed potatoes, among other things. The conditions for this are perfect. The loamy soils in Wallonia produce potatoes with a beautiful white skin. We also see this in Limburg. This product is ideally suited for export. For example Agrias for Switzerland, Spain and Israel. The Belgian cultivation areas are an extension of our company. There is clearly more interest from growers in the country towards potato and onion cultivation.'
Now that the potatoes are taking on a more important role, what does this mean for the onion pool?
'The onion pool will continue to exist unchanged. The interest of growers is still increasing slightly across the board. We see that every year. In recent years we have paid a lot of attention to updating our company. By providing more and better guidance within the pool context, we dot the i's and cross the t's. This is mainly about better relationship management. In the past, minor irritations sometimes occurred that eventually grew into a problem. We are now counteracting that and with results. There is hardly any turnover among the growers. More than a hundred (pool) growers were present during the last winter meeting. That is a strong point of our pool and also good for the sense of belonging. Every year there is a study trip for growers. This year we went to New Zealand with 30 growers for two weeks to see the onion cultivation there. That is fun and educational. In the current (digital) era, the feeling of being together is sometimes hard to find.'
Niels van der Boom
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