With more than 50 years of experience, DCU Potatoes in Zwalm, Belgium, grew rapidly in recent years. The company invested heavily in new packaging lines. Plans for the future are also focused on the further expansion of packaged potatoes. “At the end of this year or the start of 2017, another expansion of 1,800 square meters of warehouses is planned, where potatoes will be sorted, washed and packaged,” owner Peter de Clercq says. “We sort, wash and package potatoes and onions, and also deliver straight form the cultivator to the factory.”
Glorified transporter
According to De Clercq, the potato trade is not always easy. “Especially supplying industry is becoming more difficult. Profit margins are becoming narrower. We are actually glorified transporters. Industry is currently our largest buyer, but we are increasingly focusing on packaging and exporting potatoes. It is a fact that industry increasingly bypasses the ‘trade chain’ and personally approaches the cultivator. We are therefore also focusing on other customers.”
The packaging world is not always easy either, according to De Clercq. “But it is easier to sell when focused on prices in this sector. Of course, there will always be competition. That is allowed, and even required, as long as it remains healthy. Our objective as a company is to profile ourselves as well as possible in order to make a good profit.”
DCU Potatoes in Zwalm was founded by the late Urbain de Clercq and his wife Raphaelle Leus in 1964. The company is a wholesaler of potatoes and onions.
For more information:
Peter de Clercq
D.C.U. Potatoes
Huttegemstraat 52
9630 Zwalm, Belgium
+32 (0)55 49 95 97
+32 (0)55 49 69 52
info@dcupotatoes.be