Seed potato trading house HZPC does not make a profit or loss

HZPC reports this in an explanation of the annual figures for the 2020/21 financial year. A year in which the company largely had to operate in a global recession due to the corona pandemic. Gerard Backx, CEO of HZPC (photo), said in a statement: "Our focus is growth. Although this process has slowed down over the past year, nothing has been broken." However, HZPC was forced to reorganize the organization in a few places.

Growing sales
HPZC achieved a turnover of €312 million in the past financial year, more than 13% lower than the previous year. The dividend payment remains the same: at €1 per share. While turnover decreased and the dividend payment remained the same, HPZC - the group emphasizes - actually saw sales increase. In the year 2020/21, HZPC sold 904.000 tons of seed potatoes directly or via licensees, a growth of 13,5%. This means that the seed potato group has passed the 900.000 tons sales mark for the first time. The growth in tonnes mainly took place outside Europe, in America and Asia. However, the margin on these additional overseas tons could not compensate for the significantly lower margin on sales in the Netherlands and France, reports HZPC. There the group noticed the effects of much lower sales to the chip industry and a number of major export countries such as Algeria.

Attracting growers
The result of €0 for the past financial year is €1,2 million lower than the year before. HZPC reports that this profit could have been achieved if the €1,35 million investment in the Connecting Growers program had been postponed. In this program, HZPC has purchased its own certificates and transferred them to 70% of active growers in the European Union. As a result, the number of certificate holders has increased considerably. "We attach great importance to the fact that HZPC certificates are in the hands of active growers. With Connecting Growers we want to bind them to us and ensure that they benefit from the development of HZPC," the group said in the statement.

CEO Backx declares that he faces the future with confidence. "Fortunately, HZPC's foundation is healthy. Moreover, our presence in many countries has only become stronger in the past year, just like the product range and great projects." HZPC mentions the recently presented example as an example of this Even Greener, a selection of sustainable varieties with a lower impact on the environment.