04 Feed

Our growers are the central cog at HZPC; together with them, we are doing all we possibly can to supply the world with top quality seed potatoes. We are reinforcing the link with our growers and reviewing how we can help them on the way to a sustainable future. Wherever we find barriers, we will seek out new and sometimes unconventional solutions.

HZPC is a company of committed people. Association HZPC – owner of the HZPC Holding B.V. shares – has certified all shares. Only (former) growers, (former) breeders and (former) members of staff may purchase and sell certificates. They can also become members of Association HZPC. They have a voice in the course of the company and finance the business with risk capital.

Our active growers are important to HZPC. With Connecting Growers, we are spending  EUR 1.5 million each year to buy certificates from former growers and give these to active growers in the European Union. In the summer of 2021, we issued the first certificates to around 70% of our active growers. In 2022, there was a second round when we were able to give shares to almost all of our active growers.

Share certificates used to be traded on an internal market. For a few weeks per year, growers, breeders and employees could indicate whether they wished to buy or sell. On the basis of the supply and demand, the price for a certificate was set and the sale and purchase process took place during one trading moment.

Until recently, the Association HZPC was the stockholder and, in turn, responsible for all the trading events. In May 2022, we transitioned to a new trading system for certificate trading, a so-called multilateral market platform. The market was essentially transferred to the Captin Trading Platform. HZPC thus became a semi-listed company that is obliged to abide by Financial Market Authority rules.

The market will now be opened twice a year and trades can take place at any time over fourteen days. Once a certificate holder states their intention to sell, others can respond directly. Certificate holders take the initiative and thus have a good overview of supply and demand. With this new trading method, the price of a certificate may rise or fall by 20% to allow the market to settle more quickly. This used to be 10%.

HZPC has placed the realisation of sustainability across the chain of seed potato growing high on its agenda. Where it can, it works with other parties and unites them for the purposes of initiating and accelerating sustainability campaigns. A good example is our wind turbine project.

It requires a great deal of energy to store top quality seed potatoes at a low and stable temperature. HZPC’s aim is for seed potatoes in the Netherlands to be stored in an energy-neutral manner by 2030, by generating our own energy via solar or wind energy. We will thus contribute towards reducing CO2 emissions and ensuring growers have lower storage costs in the longer term.

In 2020, we initiated a project to encourage the installation of wind turbines. We are working with two suppliers of small wind turbines which are suitable for the environment and correspond with a relatively simple permit process. The first wind turbines were installed in 2021.

In a nutshell, local for local involves producing food near to where it is consumed. This fits into the consumer demand for more locally produced food and supports the reduction of transport kilometres and the use of chemicals. The war between Russia and Ukraine has led to food security going up the agenda in Europe. In uncertain times, it is important to be self-sufficient. We produce local for local in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, India, Canada, the United States and Argentina.

In countries where importing seed potatoes is not an option, we focus on growing under licence. Our partners in these countries may grow HZPC's varieties and pay a licence fee to do so. Last year, within a joint venture, HZPC successfully introduced varieties to the Indian market and the licence system is now getting up to speed.

Licence growing means you must work exceptionally hard to protect the intellectual property relating to your varieties. Many emerging economies such as China, India, Egypt and Nigeria are taking an interest in this growing method but if our varieties are used unlawfully, we will take the appropriate action. We have already taken legal action in a few cases. Several other parties have also indicated they are using our intellectual property and they now have to pay licence fees to do so. As far as we are concerned, this is a success in terms of protecting our genetics.

Everyone has a right to access good food. That is the strong belief of HZPC and it is why we choose to supply seed potatoes in places around the world where it is sensitive or sometimes involves great risks. The supply of seed potatoes to USA sanction countries such as Cuba, Iran and Syria are good examples.

Until recently, HZPC was continuing to export to sanctioned countries by using alternative payment structures. But this meant huge compliance issues for banks and they will no longer cooperate. The United Nations and European Union, however, still permit exports of food to sanctioned countries. This inconsistency is recognised by everyone, but the political and banking worlds are yet to find a solution. In this instance, governance processes seem to be prevailing over food security. We will carry on doing all we can to maintain food supplies to people in countries where there is conflict or those subject to sanctions.

As a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak, which started in China, there has been chaos in the world of container transport, which has resulted in international transport becoming much more expensive. Many containers are still stuck and may never end up reaching their intended destinations. The tense situation in the container market is also a result of de-globalisation. Home markets are becoming increasingly protected, trading barriers have expanded and conflicts and wars are leading to the imposition of trading sanctions. 

As a result of Brexit, it is no longer possible to transport seed potatoes to or from the United Kingdom and HZPC can no longer use this source to compensate for an excess or shortfall on mainland Europe. The British market now stands alone and the prices and dynamic could vary hugely from the European market.

We are now capitalising on this by growing mini-tubers in the United Kingdom. Previously, we supplied top quality seed potatoes and left the production to third parties. Thanks to our scope, however, and because we are the largest provider of protected potato varieties in the UK, we have been able to act to ensure that the production of mini-tubers in the UK from our varieties is carried out in line with our needs. Simultaneously, this change has corresponded with additional costs which were not evident before Brexit.

In 2010, these two brothers took over the farm from their father and uncle. Our old family company is based in Finland and is made up of around 290 hectares of agricultural land and 120 hectares of woodland. Around 90 hectares are used for the production of seed potatoes for HZPC Kantaperuna. We also grow other crops in an alternating pattern; these include summer barley, oats and grass and we work with arable farmers who grow grain in order to avoid exhausting the soil.

We have been producing seed potatoes since 1976 and, since 1991, have been working with (the forerunners to) HZPC. HZPC is a company which keeps on developing across various areas: management, finance, sales, breeding and production. This encourages us to look at how we can also take our production and activities to a higher plane. It is great that HZPC works alongside growers and that farmers outside the Netherlands are also given opportunities to become certificate holders. We believe that open communication and, where possible, collaborations with other growers are extremely important. Particularly now that the incomes of many growers are under pressure due to rising costs and increased legislation and regulations. We are sure that HZPC is doing all it can to ensure potato growing across the world remains feasible.

We grow our seed potatoes in the most northerly region in the world. There, the conditions, soil types and disease situation are perfect for producing high quality seed potatoes. Heavy ground frost in the winter means that soils are free from quarantine diseases. As a result, we can use lower levels of chemicals compared to the rest of Europe. Although our growing season is short and intensive, our yields every year are comparable with our colleagues from the rest of the world.

The Finnish seed potato market is relatively small and has its own particular features. The consumer market is well-developed here whereas the processing industry has a smaller share in the overall market. Early potatoes are important to the Finnish people as they signal the start of a short summer. Everyone looks forward to this event after a long, cold winter. Early potato growers compete with one another to grow their potatoes as early as possible in the cool spring and be the first to bring them to market. This also equates to significant breeding challenges.

The people here are keen to try new products and there is also a demand for convenience and quality so you see many peeled and pre-cooked products in the Finnish potato sector. Part of the Finnish school system also involves providing children with hot lunches at schools and daycare centres. People generally eat two hot meals per day and it is normal to eat potatoes at lunch, during school hours, too. The potato's reputation is thus gaining ground in Finland. The potato is sustainable, healthy and versatile. And that is exactly what we need, not only in the Finland, but across the world.