Twenty parties from the grain, flour and bread chain have joined forces to greatly increase the share of Dutch baking wheat in our bread. To do this, some bottlenecks in the Dutch bread chain must be removed, Mirjam Kortekaas (director of the Dutch Bakery Center) and André Hoogendijk (director of the Trade association Agriculture) in an exclusive interview.
In the Dutch bread chain, about 20% of the baking wheat that is processed comes from our own soil, says Kortekaas. This can be increased, among other things, by selecting better baking wheat with the properties that bakers would like to see in the flour. But this approach also requires a completely different approach from the bread chain, says Kortekaas in a conversation with Eric de Lijster van Boerenbusiness apart. "The value must be maintained throughout the chain. That is the big challenge for us."
Hoogendijk explains what it takes to guarantee a constant quality of Dutch baking wheat. If the cooperation between all parties in the chain succeeds in this five-year project, half of the Dutch wheat acreage could well consist of baking wheat in the future. "We can certainly go in that direction. The extra value that is paid out at the end of the chain must be returned to the beginning of the chain."