On the 2nd of July, Agrico Group took over the Finnish Perunaseppä OY. Agrico Nordic AB in Sweden, a daughter company of Agrico, took over all of the shares from the Finnish potato company. The trading firm is making this step so that the production and sales of the varieties in Finland can be expanded. Perunaseppä takes care of the production and marketing of Finnish seed potatoes. The company was started in 2010 by Asko Seppänen and traded as an agent for the Agrico Group from its establishment.
The Dutch potato cooperation Agrico is one of the largest companies in the potato sector within Europe and is active with inward processing, production, marketing and sale of seed- and potatoes for consumption. "After careful consideration, I came to the conclusion that it was more sensible that Agrico would take over the company Perunaseppä OY. In this way more knowledge, extensive experience and a clear strategy will come available to help the potato business in Finland expand," says Asko Seppänen.
According to the general director of the Agrico Group, Jan van Hoogen, this step offers Agrico the opportunity to strengthen a partner relationship with qualified growers in Finland: "By working closely with Finnish potato growers, Perunaseppä will be able to expand the production and marketing of the Agrico varieties with our associated growers." From the 2nd of July 2012 and onwards, the Perunaseppä staff will consist of Jan Slijkhuis as managing director and Asko Seppänen as country manager. The daily contacts in relation to production and sales will continue to be represented by Asko Seppänen.