Pascal Braecke trades potatoes domestically andabroad. He also offers storage for refrigerated and frozen products. BraeckeTrading Company has become more of a services company over the course of theyears. He says the increasing numbers of contracts are concerning.
Pascals father starteda potato and vegetable trading company almost fifty years ago. Over the years the focus moved more towards the trade in potatoes. In 1992 Pascalentered the business and it became a partnership. They now have three locationsin Oostrozebeeke, Gent and Bavikhove, and they have recently added thesubsidiary, Mipa Frost. “To further expand the services package, we startedoffering storage capacity for refrigerated and frozen products. We alsoinstalled a washing and sorting line for potatoes and carrots in 2009,” hesays.
Straight from the field to the customer
The potato trader focuses on industrial processors, peeling companies andexporters. Most potatoes are bought from the nearby production countries, butPascal imports from further afield when necessary and, depending on the season, this includes potatoesfrom Cyprus and Spain. “A share comes from contract cultivation.” He prefers tobuy from the free market. “We also have the facilities to wash and sortpotatoes. The demand for this has, however, decreased considerably. Largercustomers have their own sorting line these days,” he says. Many of thepotatoes go straight from the field to factory. The export destination dependson the harvest in other producing countries. The Netherlands, Germany, Franceand the United Kingdom are the main markets. In recent years we mainly did alot with the United Kingdom.”
Not a great growing system
Harvest is in full swing among the growers that supply to Braecke TradingCompany. Pascal says at the start of September that the Bintjes and Fontanes,the main varieties for the trader along with the Primière, have been 80 percentharvested. The yields per hectare aren’t disappointing. “There are colleagueswith shortages but the volumes that we are harvesting are quite good. We havebeen bothered by drought in recent weeks which has meant there hasn’t been anyafter-growth. It hasn’t been a good growing season,” he notes. At the start ofthe season it was very wet. Not ideal conditions for planting. There has been ashortage in water for weeks now. “The results are very different in quality.There are plots growing weeds but other plots are good.” As a result ofthe average lower volumes the trader expects a market situation with goodprices.
More contracts
Pascal notes that nowadays they are more of a services company than a grower.According to him there is only really trade in the area of export. “There aremore and more contracts in the industry. We have contracts with both thegrowers and the industry. It concerns around 20 to 25 million kilos of potatoesper year.” The increasing number of contracts concerns him. He believes ahealthy percentage of free trade is needed at all times. “The bit of certaintyfrom the processors and the growers is understandable, but you will have aproblem in a year of shortages. You will get very high prices on the freemarket and a limited availability. We really need the free trade.”
Extremes
He admits it isn’t easy in the potato trade. He says it isn’t easy to make margins. The increasingly extreme weather conditions also catch his eye. “This doesn’t just go for potatoes. It’s really something to think about. Will insurance be unavoidable at some point? Anything can still happen this season before the potatoes are in the sheds. After the drought there may be a wet period on its way.” Yet he looks towards the future with positivity. There are certainly opportunities in the area of storage. The storage capacity of 40,000 tonnes is now only filled for a few months per year. There are therefore enough possibilities for expansion. The increasing international trade in frozen products can also stimulate the demand for temporary storage capacity.
More information:
Braecke Trading Company
Pascal Braecke
braecke_pascal@braecke.com
www.braecke.com