The central members’ meeting, which took place on 10 December 2024 in ’t Voorhuys in Emmeloord, was opened by Johan Barendregt, chairman of Coöperatie Agrico U.A. After welcoming the members, members of merit and Agrico’s employees, he handed over to Jan Hoogenboom (financial manager of Agrico a.i.) who provided an explanation of the Annual Report 2023/2024. Following this, Mark Zuidhof (Agrico CEO) updated members of the organization’s progress and the investments. The afternoon concluded with a presentation by comedian and philosopher Paul Smit. With humor and energy, he highlighted various aspects of human behavior and the functioning of the brain. This was a presentation full of humor and interaction, after which the members had the opportunity to socialize, enjoy drinks and share a meal together.

As in the 2022/2023 financial year, Agrico passed the € 400 million turnover mark. Despite the divestment of the regular ware potato activities to the new cooperative PotatoNext, Agrico’s consolidated turnover for the 2023/2024 financial year amounts to € 412 million. A total amount of € 226 million was paid out to the Dutch members. The turnover from seed potatoes was approximately € 29 million higher than the year before, an increase of 9%. The turnover achieved by our foreign subsidiaries is 15% higher than last season. This is mainly due to good market prices.

With a difficult growing season and a late harvest, there was ultimately still a reasonable average yield of 40.5 metric tons per hectare. The coarseness of the produce was striking, with a 36% of excess. In the meantime, the demand for seed potatoes was high, especially among consumer growers and chip factories. All this led to a payout price that was around € 10 per 100 kilos higher than the year before. Per hectare, a seed potato grower from Agrico received € 2,100 more per hectare than in the 2022/2023 financial year.

The loss of 6% of the seed potato acreage in 2023 was more than compensated with the takeovers of the seed potato activities of Zaaizaad- en Pootgoedtelersvereniging Anna Paulowna (ZAP) and The Potato Company (TPC) in Emmeloord, while Agrico also significantly strengthened its market power both in licensed and free varieties with these two takeovers. In addition, under its own steam, Agrico grew its acreage by 3% because it managed to add 75 new seed potato growers. The acreage of Agrico Bioselect grew from 652 hectares in 2022/2023 to more than 1,000 hectares in the next financial year.
As far as Agrico is concerned, this growth is not accidental. Mark Zuidhof: “Further growth is urgently needed to strengthen our position on the Dutch market and to remain a partner of the Western Europe potato processing industry in particular. We have observed that the acreage in the Netherlands is quite close to the ceiling. This is why growth will mainly take place abroad during the coming years. In Denmark and Germany, where we carefully started this financial year, we want to grow from 0 to 1,000 hectares of seed potato cultivation within four years. Our ambition in France is to grow from 4,000 to 5,200 hectares during the coming five years.”

The world and the market have changed to such an extent over the past couple of years that Agrico is refocusing its strategy. A process in which the Management Board together with the Supervisory Board and the Board of Members determined the new direction. Mark Zuidhof: “Key points in the new strategy are the further growth abroad, but also moving away more quickly from the less well-performing potato varieties and sales countries with disappointing turnover figures. This makes it easier for our operational people to manage the complex Agrico business more efficiently and to minimize failure costs. The investment of € 15 million in a brand new and advanced laboratory complex for Agrico Research, and therefore into stronger and more resistant varieties, will also bear fruit in the future.” In short, Agrico turned a few threats into opportunities this year and will continue to build on all fronts during the coming year, for a strong, healthy and future-proof cooperative.