Family company Van der Linde in Emmerloord knows its origin in the potato trade. In the fifties the last generation was peddling potatoes on Urk. Over the course of the years the activities have been extended considerably. The Van der Lindes divided the job well: father Henk van der Linde governs the sales of export potatoes, son Erik takes care of the purchasing and sales of the chip potatoes, son Paul does the purchasing and sales of carrots and son Taco runs the packaging wholesale. Dirk Bos is responsible for seeding goods.
Paul van der Linde
Spread
"People sometimes ask how we manage with so many family members in one company, but it goes without a hitch. We discuss things, but each person has their own responsibility and we're not in each other's way," says Paul. The spread of activities has its advantages. "You can help each other when its busy. At the moment the potato market is in full swing and the carrot season is ending. This means you can help each other sometimes. We used to just be in potatoes and a year would be good or bad. Now we're active in four branches, the activities are spread out better."
Van der Linde started with the storage of carrot in 1990 and six months later the company moved into trade. In 2004 they started washing and packaging. The Dutch carrot area has been quite stable in recent years. The carrots are cooled and washed in Emmeloord and supplied to exporters. Exporting themselves isn't an ambition of the company. "We work with well known exporters. They are well organised and pay well. It works well for us. And if you have good product, customers continue to come. Companies that mainly focus on Eastern Europe, all export directly, but our destinations still mainly go through exporters. And the export continueS. There is always a country that doesn't have its own production or a country where it has gone wrong."
Quality worst in 12 years
Van der Linde expects to end the carrot season next week. It wasn't an undivided success in quality. "The quality was bad this year. I have been active in cleaning carrots for twelve year, but have never experienced such a bad season. The carrots came in far too warm and there is something wrong with a lot of parties. Because we only supply class I, we have to supply quality produce, but you have to look for it with a magnifying glass. This is why we are closing the season quickly. A calm period always follows carrots in the summer. At the end of July the cleaner has to be ready for the early carrots."
Quality worst in 12 years
Van der Linde expects to end the carrot season next week. It wasn't an undivided success in quality. "The quality was bad this year. I have been active in cleaning carrots for twelve year, but have never experienced such a bad season. The carrots came in far too warm and there is something wrong with a lot of parties. Because we only supply class I, we have to supply quality produce, but you have to look for it with a magnifying glass. This is why we are closing the season quickly. A calm period always follows carrots in the summer. At the end of July the cleaner has to be ready for the early carrots."
Although the prices on the carrot market have been showing a continuous decreasing trend, in the last two weeks the prices have flown up. "I'm not sure whether it's completely justified but it does typify the carrot market," says Paul. Van der Linde doesn't grow anything, but the company mainly gets the carrots on a contract basis from surrounding farmers. The Dutch carrot area is quite stable. If it drops in one region, such as Friesland, it rises somewhere else in the Netherlands," concludes Paul. The Dutch carrot mainly finds its way to Germany, the Baltic States and East Africa. "This year a country like Croatia came on the market late. I suspect is has to do with the supply of carrot from Turkey that couldn't go to Russia this year."
Rotation
There has been a fierce turn around in the packaging of carrots in recent years. "At the start in 2004 we supplied most in 10kg net packaging, now it's almost all plastic. It certainly benefits the quality," says Paul. The trader is concerned about the quality of the carrot. "Generally speaking, it isn't getting better. In my view this is because not all growers are sticking to the 1:12 rotation. In the end they are hurting themselves."
Rotation
There has been a fierce turn around in the packaging of carrots in recent years. "At the start in 2004 we supplied most in 10kg net packaging, now it's almost all plastic. It certainly benefits the quality," says Paul. The trader is concerned about the quality of the carrot. "Generally speaking, it isn't getting better. In my view this is because not all growers are sticking to the 1:12 rotation. In the end they are hurting themselves."
"It is becoming increasingly difficult in recent years to store the carrots until June. You used to know that some parties would remain good in the storage, but nowadays I want to see the carrot in cooling every two weeks," continues the trader. "We will have to do something about the quality as a sector. And it's not for nothing, in recent years you can see that extra good quality gets extra money, especially if there difference is significant. This year the industry provided a firm base in the market, or it would have been very different."
Will a fifth branch be added to Van der Linde's trade activities? "Who knows, something might come across our path and we'll see an opportunity, and do it. That's how we ended up in the package wholesale of big bags (www.bigbagstore.nl), among others. At first we ordered some big bags for ourselves, but there turned out to be more than enough demand from countless sectors around here."
Will a fifth branch be added to Van der Linde's trade activities? "Who knows, something might come across our path and we'll see an opportunity, and do it. That's how we ended up in the package wholesale of big bags (www.bigbagstore.nl), among others. At first we ordered some big bags for ourselves, but there turned out to be more than enough demand from countless sectors around here."
For more information:
Van der Linde
Paul van der Linde
Mob: +31 (0) 6 - 52 06 36 01
Paulvanderlinde@vanderlindebv.com
www.vanderlindebv.com