There were serious concerns about Spunta beforehand, but in the end Agroplant cycled neatly between the obstacles of the 2016/2017 sales year. The seed potato pool prices were strengthened by the good consumer prices.
The seed potato growers of Agroplant in Medemblik had something to celebrate on Friday 16 June. The company has existed (in its current form) for 15 years. The performance of the pool over the 2016 harvest did not detract from the celebration. The most important monopoly variety, its own variety Actress, yields 35,51 euros per 100 kilos for the class E 28/55. This is a basic price, autumn delivery, excluding fees.
Nervous situation
The largest free variety, Spunta, is slightly below last year's result at 30,96 euros per 100 kilos for E 28/55. At that time, it was mainly the large acreage, the introduction of the sudden quota in Algeria and the Egyptian changes in sizing that were a cause for concern. 'It was positive that the acreage was somewhat lower in 2016, but the spunta market is of course largely determined by what Egypt and Algeria do,' explains commercial director Joris van der Lee. 'Last year Algeria's new import regulation initially put the spunta price down. A nervous situation; especially for the A's we didn't like it, but in the end we made it through reasonably well. Algeria increased its quota and Egypt also made good purchases, so that the price still remained intact.'
No extra volume
The growth crack issue has done little for Agroplant. 'We have encountered them in a number of varieties. In 1 race that was very extreme. In 2 lots the cracks were such that they did not go away as seed potatoes. The expansion, which should not have been introduced halfway through, did not give us any extra volume.'
Oversize well paid
Overall, less seed potatoes were available last year. Nevertheless, Agroplant supplied customers without cutting. 'The yields varied greatly per area. Our growers are very spread across the Netherlands. We had a shortage of some varieties, while the demand was high. So you have to spread your offer differently. Dividing is a healthier basis for the pool than having leftovers', says Van der Lee, who eventually sold almost everything as seed. “That was the special thing about this year. And we were able to achieve a good consumer price for the oversizes.'
Prices for the main varieties (in size E 28/55 millimetres):
| Actress ** | 35,51 euros per 100 kilos |
| Agria (BE) | 40,50 euros per 100 kilos |
| Desiree | 29,14 euros per 100 kilos |
| Hermes | 35,28 euros per 100 kilos |
| Subway ** | 30,13 euros per 100 kilos |
| Picobello** | 33,79 euros per 100 kilos |
| Premiere | 49,96 euros per 100 kilos |
| tick | 30,96 euros per 100 kilos |
** Agroplant monopoly varieties.