In the turbulent 2019-2020 sales season, the ware potato pool of APF Holland held up well. The growers are satisfied. The company dedicates this to reliable agreements with customers and good opportunities for hedging their positions.
At the beginning of this week, APF Holland from Dronten presented the pool prices to the affiliated growers. Not through their usual meeting, but digitally. According to pool manager Martin de Visser, the growers are satisfied with the result. Payout prices are above those of the bountiful 2017 harvest year.
Innovator, the largest variety in the pool, costs €13 per 11,99 kilos for week 100 (end of March). This payout price applies to the presale pool and is the net payout price excl. VAT for 40 millimeters upwards. The same prize is paid for Lady Anna. Innovator's result without pre-sales in week 13 was €11,78 per 100 kilos. The price for Fontane week 13 is €11,12 with presales and €10,91 without sales. For Ramos that is €10,70 with pre-sales and €10,49 without pre-sales. The Agria variety is no longer sold in a polar context.
No participation in support scheme
After intensive consultation with the trade organizations and government, APF Holland has decided not to participate in the chip potato support scheme. "This partly has to do with the technical structure of our pool," De Visser explains. "It can take months before the final payment price is known to all growers. Due to the pool structure, the price difference was also small. That is why it was decided not to participate in this and to opt for simplicity and certainty."
This does not mean that potatoes were not sold as animal feed. The pool contains many chip potatoes from the clay soil, which are sold from April onwards. Thanks to good agreements with regular customers, we also managed to sell potatoes destined for fries in the last phase of the season. "The potato futures market was also used to hedge the pool, despite the negative sentiment this spring," De Visser explains. "The futures market was ultimately the only 'buyer' and once again proved to be a good instrument."
'Expect the unexpected'
The 2019 growing season was exceptional. A dry start, followed by a sharp decline after sufficient precipitation. During the wet harvest conditions, the price level stabilized around the cost price. Ultimately, not all Arctic potatoes were harvested. If Covid-19 had had no influence on the season, the season would probably have been more than cost-covering, APF concludes.
De Visser cannot predict how the 2020-21 season will go. "Expect the unexpected, that's all I can say for now. If we look at potato growth throughout Europe, it is on average good. However, a lot can still happen from July 1, making the outcome impossible to predict at the moment. Area figures do not indicate fewer potatoes, not even in the pool. We therefore need sales of 100%, not 85%."
Last November announced APF Holland and Eriva have recommended that they continue under the name APF-Eriva from the 2020 harvest year. Pools from both companies partly flow into each other. More will be announced about this later.