Interview Marc van Herreweghe
'The potato sector must defend itself'
Marc van Herreweghe, CEO of the French fries producer Mydibel, has been the chairman of the Belgapom industry association since July. The organization has big challenges ahead as the French fries sector is being hit by market protectionism. Closer to home, the processors, together with the sector, are working on a trade association.
You have been CEO of the Belgian Mydibel Group for 1 year now. Were you ready for an extra challenge?
"The role of CEO at Mydibel is (to be clear) a full-time job, but it is important to consider additional mandates on boards of directors. I have worked internationally for several multinationals and have been active for over 10 years with the filling mandates on boards of directors, both at home and abroad. This has the great advantage that you learn to look at challenges from a different point of view, with the result that you can manage your own company with a broader view. to become chairman of Belgapom is very enriching, because we look at the entire sector."
What is it like to lead a trade association that is one of the fastest growing Belgian and European industries?
"Immensely exciting and enriching! We are at the dawn of a technological revolution. The fourth revolution (like the previous 3 revolutions) will bring about fundamental changes in the way we live, interact and work. It is important to use to make technological resources, to integrate data and through that integration to automatically generate information that allows us to make decisions. In this way, we harmonize the potato sector better, which benefits everyone. We must ensure that we learn how other comparable sectors deal with this revolution and avoid reinventing the wheel."
What do you expect from the Belgian potato industry in the coming years?
"More than ever, the sector has to defend its interests. Our country has an ideal soil and climate for potato cultivation. The growth of processing (to become a leading player) presents us with numerous challenges; think of the consequences of climate change, the increasing pressure from diseases and pests and the availability of labour, but also the demand for increasingly sustainable production, the pressure on the use of crop protection products and the increasing market protection that poses major challenges for trade."
Is increasing market protection the number 1 agenda item at Belgapom?
"Yes. Free trade is crucial and interventions to prevent it lead to problems. Protectionism, often based on irrational arguments, makes consumers the victim. We see that countermeasures disrupt the local economy, which has an impact on the taxpayer. See how the United States (US) is pumping government resources into agriculture. Together with the European federation EUPPA, Belgapom ensures that the European Commission is aware of the misuse of anti-dumping instruments. It makes sense to emphasize the reciprocity of trade agreements. perhaps insufficiently, just like the potato chain in many countries helps to support local production, such as projects of the Belgian NGO Trias in Ecuador and Peru, which were also supported by Belgian organizations and companies."
What other topics do you see as spearheads for Belgapom?
"As mentioned, it is important for the sector to defend its interests. One of the challenges is to 1 trade association for potatoes. It is Belgapom's task to set this up (together with the chain), through collaboration with our national and European organisations. The European sector is facing major challenges. It cannot be that initiatives to grow more and better potatoes in an efficient way are penalized because the free market can end up in a negative spiral as a result. This is the big challenge of tomorrow and we can only tackle it by involving the entire chain. The trade association can act as a mouthpiece for the government. Even supporting free trade principles can be a concern.”
Will Belgapom's role change with the arrival of 1 trade association?
"In recent years, Belgapom has made every effort to serve its members: the trade, the fresh market, the seed trade, export and processing. This remains our priority. The effort made to set up or support research and development projects should be further expanded. The campaign to put Belgian fries on the world map also remains important, as is the organization of the 'Interpom Primeurs' fair. Belgapom wants to help build the larger network of the potato chain on a national, European and global level."
The European potato world is in an exceptional position due to the drought. What is Belgapom's position on this matter?
Belgapom's position is as follows: the current problems are mainly present in early potatoes. It is too early to make a definitive statement for storage potatoes. As long as the potato leaves are green, growth can still occur. We expect high returns to be out of the question. On the other hand, Fontane has grown into the most important variety in our country; it is quite drought resistant. Everything depends on when it starts to rain, before we make any definitive statements. Belgapom and its companies are of the opinion that the agreements concluded must be fulfilled by the grower and the buyer. For the future, a trade association offers the opportunity to explore new partnerships."
Niels van der Boom
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