'PotatoNL more independent through BO Akkerbouw'

After considerable preparation and four fragmented regional potato quotations, the PotatoNL quotation was born in September 2017, on the eve of Potato Europe in Emmeloord. Growers, traders, exporters and processors are united in this. With former chairman Mark Brantjes we look back on the preparation, the course of the listing and what awaits PotatoNL.

Judging from the experience you have now, would you now start again with a national potato quotation?
"I am very proud of what we have achieved together. If you look at the situation from which we emerged, I definitely think I would do it again. Possibly with a different methodology because the potato market today is different than in 2017. The most important starting point was that it was perceived as a shortcoming that the Netherlands, as a leading potato country, did not have a national listing in which all parties (cultivation, trade and processing) participated."

Can you take us back to the conversations at the time?
"About two years of exploratory discussions, led by Kees van Arendonk, preceded the establishment. That's where the stakes were set. A working group was subsequently set up under my leadership. This was active for several months with all people in the chain: trade, industry, export and cultivation. From there, a plan was made and PotatoNL was founded. In retrospect, it all went quite quickly as we got four parties on the same page. We were all aware that this was a unique opportunity for the sector and that we had to grab it."

What has surprised or amazed you the most in the four years since it was founded?
"The emotion associated with trading products continues to amaze me. Whether it concerns a small grower or a large processor. The emotion is very strong. This applies not only to potatoes but also to onions or carrots, for example. The interests are large. In fact, a quotation is nothing more or less than what the product has been worth in the past week. I think we are succeeding in this in the current setup."

Yet there is also criticism. For example, because of the relatively small number of transactions on which the quotation is based.
"The input at the listing table is diverse. An important input is the transaction list from the Trade Organization. In fact, a derivative of the PAT list, corrected according to the protocol and supplemented with input from the trade. In addition, there is the input from stock exchanges, the informant network of the Goes stock exchange and the VTA list. Of course we would like to have more transactions. In principle, only purchase agreements are included where the price has been determined through consultation. So free potatoes. Potatoes for which a price agreement has already been agreed in the spring, for example made, or that are processed at a fixed daily or weekly price, are not included in the quotation. The weekly quotation is of course frequently used to pay for these potatoes."

An estimated 1,5 million tons of co-delivery potatoes are traded in the Netherlands. Isn't that a huge missed opportunity?
"Correct, but that does not mean that they are not included. Exchange-related potatoes or potatoes that have been settled on the Cash Settlement (CS) simply cannot be included. The PotatoNL quotation is included in the weekly Cash Settlement ( CS). If you take the potatoes you supply with you, you will have a repetitive effect in your quotation. The price of the previous week is then included in the CS and again the following week. Moreover, parties abroad are always very positive about the reliability and independence from PotatoNL.

Are there other options to get more transactions?
"The LNCN has been giving away holiday trips for years to encourage submissions, but without much success. It is always the same ones who participate. The industry submits all transactions via the BO list or PAT list. Growers are selling themselves short. When the barn is empty, it seems as if the urgency has disappeared. They prefer not to let the neighbor know what has been paid. In this way, an increasingly smaller group of growers is creating the market for a large sector. At the same time, we see arable farms changing. The scale continues to increase and tailor-made agreements are made with processors. The real free market that PotatoNL fishes in is shrinking."

Isn't the threshold too high to report a transaction?
"There are ways of thinking to simplify this, for example via an app. It does not have to be difficult at all. Now a grower has to go to three counters: sell, sign a contract and report the transaction. That does not always happen. Consideration is being given to how this can be simplified. is possible. The alternative is a different methodology via an independent market leader who gathers information and interprets the market. These are all possibilities for the future that we still have to investigate."

So more changes than the change of chairman and secretary?
"This step has been in preparation for some time. As chairman of LNCN, I regularly sat at the table with two hats at PotatoNL. That is difficult. Because the desire is to further professionalize, it is necessary to be completely independent. One of the ideas was to appoint an independent chairman. With BO Akkerbouw we already have a fantastic organization that represents all parties in the sector. The PotatoNL steering committee will be added to the trade organization as its own entity. It has full control, not the board of the BO ."

Will you now focus more on the LNCN and your own company?
"I will remain a member of the steering group, so I will not completely disappear from view. I remain a great supporter of a transparent market. Price quotations are part of that. Sometimes I have the feeling that this is special because many colleagues also believe that the sector benefits with as little transparency as possible. In this digital world, the information always surfaces, but is often obscured. It is better to register and inform it as best as possible. It is now time for the next step. BO Akkerbouw is a very suitable party to to carry it out."