Interview Theo Rovers
'Online Pig Trade must provide security for the entire chain'
Thursday 19 September saw the launch of Online Pig Trade, a platform on which pig farmers, traders and slaughterhouses can offer pigs online and make customers aware of their demand. "A pilot has been running in recent months and now it appears that there is definitely interest, we are rolling it out nationally," says Theo Rovers, the founder of Online Pig Trade.
Rovers grew up on an agricultural business, but because his brother was the business successor, he had to look for a business in a different way. At the end of 2013 he succeeded and he became the owner of a fattening pig and sow farm in the south of the country. In the meantime, he gained knowledge at various pig farms. "Without that knowledge I could never have done what I am doing now."
Pig farmers, slaughterhouses and traders can come into contact with each other through Online Pig Trade. How exactly does that work?
"On our platform, pig farmers can immediately offer their offer and buyers can make their demand known by placing an advertisement. All animal flows can be placed, such as piglets, slaughter piglets, slaughter sows and fattening pigs. If the party is interested in the offer, or can meet the demand, they can respond to the relevant advertisement Online Pig Trading to. The person who has placed the advertisement will then receive the e-mail address of the interested party, after which specific agreements can be made. We therefore only offer a place to connect supply and demand."
How did you get the idea that a platform like Online Pig Trade is needed in the sector?
"When I finally became self-employed in pig farming in 2013, I was almost immediately overloaded with challenges. At the beginning of 2014, Russia came up with a boycott on European meat. That was of course a no-brainer for the entire sector, but perhaps even more so. extra tough for the starting pig farmers. As an entrepreneur you were put to the test and all my energy in those years was spent on finding ways to keep my head above water."
"However, it has also ensured that I now know what we are all up against in the sector. I could not do much with that in these 'tough years', but in 2016 (when the return was somewhat better and calm seemed to have returned) I started to think about solutions for some of those problems. In any case, it was clear that the continuity of the sector was under pressure and is actually still under pressure. That is where the idea of Online Pig Trade came from. This platform must provide security for all links in the pig chain."
This idea probably didn't work out overnight. Did you have help with that, or do you do everything yourself?
"In principle, I manage Online Pig Trade on my own, but I do have help from a local ICT company (in the vicinity of Boekel). That company also manages Bedrijventekoop.nl, which is comparable to Online Pig Trade. I have especially received a lot of feedback and learned a lot from the working method of this company. The difference with our platform is that we are close to the traders, pig farmers and slaughterhouses. This allows us to respond well to changing market conditions, which in my opinion is one of our distinguishing features factors."
You mentioned earlier about providing security. How do we see that?
"That is another distinguishing factor, because we offer slaughterhouses an extra module. They can make their request known in an advertisement (both for the short and long term), stating the specific characteristics. A so-called 'Online Pig Trade price', to which slaughterhouses can add the surcharges for animal species and certifications. This is certainly an added value for pig farmers, who are almost always looking for security."
"I am also aware that pig farmers only make long-term agreements if there is something to compare. Now that the slaughterhouses are stating the prices, a different dynamic is created in the market. Incidentally, this is not only a wish of the pig farmers, because Slaughterhouses also indicate that they want certainty and can try to achieve this in this way."
If you have to briefly describe the long-term goal of Online Pig Trade, how do you do it?
"We want to ensure that the loss of return at pig farmers, slaughterhouses and traders is kept to a minimum. In this way we hope to be of added value for every link in the chain. And, if every link in the pig chain benefits from it, then eventually the whole chain will become stronger as a result."
At the launch, every link in the chain was well represented. To what extent do you already know that there is interest in this platform?
"We have been busy developing the platform over the past 1,5 years. For example, we have run a pilot over the past three quarters of a year, in which a small part of each target group (pig farmers, traders and slaughterhouses) has been active. This shows that Online Pig Trade was very much liked and the reliability also came out well in the test. Now is the time for us to roll out the concept nationally. Parties in Belgium have also indicated that they are interested, but for now the platform will only can be used in the Netherlands."
Kimberly Baker
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