Pool Sheep Holland has solid ground

De pool with bottom is a fairly large pool in terms of volume at potato processor Schaap Holland in Biddinghuizen. The company pays a net price of €2017 for Agria, €11,41 for Innovator and €10,51 for Maritiema in this pool for the 10,16 harvest. This is the price at week 13 and excludes storage and certification fees. In all cases it is 40 millimeters upwards.

The pre-sale pool achieves a result of €10,29 per 100 kilos for Agria. In the pool without pre-sales, this is €6,83 per 100 kilos. Innovator comes in at €9,06 and €5,40 per 100 kilos. Maritiema ends up at €8,27 per 100 kilos with pre-sales and €4,35 per 100 kilos without pre-sales.

Quality a challenge
"The quality was a challenge last season," he said Hans Geling, director of the seed potato and consumption branch within Schaap Holland. "The conditions during harvesting were not good, and we had to deal with harvesting damage. Due to heavy rain, the ridges were somewhat washed away, causing more green tubers to develop. There were also some hollow ones. All in all, not an easy season."

Quality also played an important role in storage. "We were faced with pressure points early in the season and this became worse as the year progressed. Due to an accumulation of defects, sales were limited. For the fresh fries production of Sour sufficient potatoes were available. However, the yield was lower because more product was required for the same amount of end product."

box storage
To have a better grip on quality, put Sheep on storage in boxes. Growers anticipate this, which is why this storage method is increasing. In addition to the storage scale, the fixed surcharge for box storage will be increased. The company is trying to make a move with this. "It is increasingly difficult to provide outside air cooling in the final phase of the season," says Geling. "Purely a yield issue. The quality drops rapidly at the end. We want to overcome that."

After the pool meeting (early July), surprisingly few questions came from the audience, Geling noted. "I think the prices are in line with expectations. When I compare the results, I don't think we did too badly. It quickly became clear in the bottom pool that a supplementary payment was no longer an option."

Schaap partly processes the chip potatoes in its own peeling company. The Innovator visits chip factories on a regular basis. Maritiema was difficult to place last season. Fontane is not included in the package, because the members are often located on clay soil in Flevoland and the surrounding area. Agria and Innovator thrive there.

Growth of the table potato market
The company is strongly committed to growth for the coming season and the years to come table potato segment. "We have seen a small decline in this segment in previous years," says Geling. "We are trying to turn that into growth. There are more table potatoes in the pool for the 2018 harvest. We are also making Agria and Maritiema suitable for small packaging." 

Geling sees that there is growth in the demand for table potatoes. "Schaap has acquired new supermarket chains as customers. Retail is increasingly working with smaller packaging. We present ourselves as a partner that continually comes up with new concepts and tests them. One is more successful than the other. In this way we meet the wishes of the buyer and customer. That thinking is required of you."

From its own seed potato trading company, Schaap Holland has its own Alexia variety as a table potato. "A long time ago the shelf was full of Bintje. Now we are talking about dozens of varieties and sizes. From bantam to large. That is a challenge. We are therefore looking for extra purchasing power; specifically for purchasing table potatoes from the farmer. The focus This is based on product from our own country."

Specialists
Schaap Holland has a permanent group of growers who have invested heavily in table potato cultivation, for example by building box storage with mechanical cooling. These companies want to expand, but new growers are also emerging. These are specialist growers. "Growers are good at arithmetic. The balance between the chip potato price and the return on table potatoes must be closely monitored," Geling says. "This has been an issue in recent years, causing French fries to grow in share."

Schaap has been involved with the quality mark since its inception PlanetProof. The successor to Milieukeur. "The formula we have for PlanetProof grown potatoes works positively," says Geling. "Some of our growers are committed to it. For others it is purely a calculation."

seed potato area
Schaap would also like to see the seed potato area larger. However, growing in all segments is a difficult task. The company is therefore growing more seed potatoes in Belgium and Northern France. You also see growers there shifting from the table potato and export market towards fries, as a result of the prices. Geling partly attributes this to the fickle nature of the price. "French fries potatoes can easily be contracted in advance. The price of table and export potatoes sometimes changes weekly."

The director is extremely cautious when making predictions for next season. Last year's situation is fresh in our minds. "Drought dictates the market, but little can be said about the course of the season. Last year rain came on time. We know the end effect. Even though all potatoes in the Flevoland growing area can be irrigated, you can see that they are having a hard time. In South Europe received sufficient rain. Spain has a favorable season, but the acreage there fell sharply after the very bad year of 2017. That has a positive effect on the price. It is also dry in Northern France."