The 2016/2017 harvest and sales year was an exciting year for Stet Holland. It was the first year in which it also had to successfully market the purchased KWS-Potato varieties. In addition, the trading company was stuck with a sharply set acreage in a season in which the yields were also disappointing.
How did the trading company, which previously profiled itself as a seller of seed potatoes for countries around the Mediterranean, fare with the new variety package last season? Not only did Stet have to deal with Algeria's quota changes, which may hit them even harder as an export specialist, they also gained a number of popular potato chip varieties: a new segment for Stet. “The addition of the KWS package has indeed caused a shift, but the KWS fresh varieties fit in well with the sales area of the old Stet,” explains director Peter Ton, who refers to the whole of Europe, the Middle East and North-Africa.
Processing market
Success number VR808, the largest potato chip, was first marketed via Stet. That sale also went smoothly. Not only because the variety has an exclusive deal with PepsiCo that guarantees worldwide sales, but also because the cultivation contracts and the KWS staff responsible for the processing market have been included in the deal to Stet. “The arrival of KWS varieties has made us even stronger as a company; Our geographical focus area has grown further from 15 sales countries to 24, especially in the field of fresh. In addition, the focus on industrial varieties has been added.”
Good luck with such a good first sales season
All in all, Ton speaks of a successful first year. “Of course we were also lucky that the first year after the takeover was such a good sales season. Yet we also faced difficulties. When KWS Potato sold its assets, they had narrowed down the area quite a bit. When the yields subsequently turned out to be lower than average, we had difficulty satisfying everyone with sufficient seed potatoes. We hope to have sufficient seed potatoes in stock in the coming years. Price-wise, we had a good year this first year after the takeover.”
Good business for dual-purpose breeds
The Stet and the KWS pool of the 2016 harvest ran separately this year. Each pool had its own contract conditions and compensation agreements. The Stet pool achieved an average E price of €2016 for size 32,37-28* over the 55 harvest. It must be taken into account that there are 3 varieties in the pile up to 60 mm. A result of €30,73 was achieved for Spunta. According to Ton, there are no notable things that really marked the season.
“Of course, Algeria's decision to buy more brought relief and there was an unprecedented demand for chip varieties and less for fresh and export. Santana is a variety that has performed exceptionally well with an average of €35,32 for classes A to S*. The potato with chip qualities does well in warm climates. Santana was in high demand, especially from North Africa and the Middle East. Varieties such as Triplo, which can be eaten fresh and have good baking properties, the so-called dual-purpose varieties, also did good business.”
Obligations greater than availability
Yet Africa was not the driving force behind the market, which was clearly Europe in processing and fresh last season. “Things with Africa did not go badly, but the Netherlands was not able to achieve such good figures as in 2015/2016. Partly, of course, because Algeria declined less. In contrast, the Middle East performed noticeably better. An undeniable plus in Syria and heavyweights such as Saudi Arabia have also purchased heavily. Asia participated nicely.”
Growth cracks were not an issue for Stet, but scarcity was. This is most evident with Ramos. “Due to the lower yield and the fact that the Stet pool does not equalize, the payout price is at the bottom. Because we had to meet our long-term obligations, we were left with no excess volume to sell on the open market. We could have sold Ramos at top prices, but the liabilities outweighed the availability. Now there is a pool price of just under €30 (up to size 50).'
Harvest 2017 with 1 pool further
The 2 pools have been combined for the coming harvest. There is now 1 grower's committee that has only adopted the good contract conditions from both pools. For example, the KWS pool used a combination of a hectare and a kg advance. “We were not used to this and only paid out upon delivery. However, one advance can lead to liquidity problems. It has now been decided that we will make a combination of a hectare advance in the autumn, which will be supplemented to a kg advance in January or February.”
However, the biggest change for KWS growers is the standard. The KWS scheme depended on the destination, while the Stet standard - regardless of the destination to which the seed potatoes are shipped - is always the same. I think we made a good mix.” For the longer term, Stet is examining the entire variety package. “We now have more than 30 varieties. We think that is too broad. First we look at which breed profiles there is overlap after which we continue with the strongest.”
*Prices mentioned are autumn prices, excluding fees, including grower's license