“Choice for ZON should be more than financial transaction”

Since December 1, 2014, Michiel F. van Ginkel has started working as general manager at the Dutch auction ZON, after a career at successively Procter & Gamble, The Greenery, H.J. Heinz and HAK. One of the targets he set for himself, is to give the company a bit more love for the team. “This cooperative has done quite a lot for growers, staff and clients in the past 100 years, in both good and bad times. With this size and location, we should be able to give ourselves a much clearer and more recognizable profile. The choice for ZON has to be based on much more than a financial transaction.”

First of all a lot of enthusiasm. This sector tends to look at problems mostly. Of course it’s important to keep that in mind, but it doesn’t help to keep staring at it for too long. Many people are very occupied with the things they cannot change, and they start talking about the Rabobank, McKinsey and the competition from the Spanish cultivation. I don’t want to trivialize the situation, but it’s very discouraging to keep thinking about this. The prices paid in Europe are determined by a very limited number of players. The challenge is to think about things that we are able to change, and with which we can add value for our growers.

Several of our growers operate abroad. For instance, the Westburg nursery grows tomatoes in Morocco, Cornelissen has been working with Italian radish for years, and Luc Berden grows celeriac in Spain. I think it’s great to see that growers show entrepreneurship in this difficult time as well. Saving the sector is not so much at issue. We focus on the individual entrepreneur, and see how we can promote his entrepreneurship to wrest from the battle for the last penny or the last kilo. That battle isn’t hopeless, but is a privilege that’s reserved for few. It’s in the DNA of horticulture to produce the last drop of milk, the last grammes of meat or the last kilos of vegetables. But I don’t think this is the solution for the sector, because you’ll lose against countries that have free sunshine and heat, and where land and labour cost a fraction of what’s the norm here.

Oh, everything has already been said, written and thought of. That’s the lot of all newcomers in the sector. But consultants are often hired to tell people what they actually already know. The McKinsey solutions won’t be new, but I wonder if it’s possible to find a group of growers to carry it out in practice. I think this sector lacks the leadership to get this done. They tried it with the establishment of The Greenery. Unfortunately that didn’t work, because I think that reversal of the chain from a supply to a demand driven sector was a good idea. Back then it was already very difficult to get everyone on board – ZON and FruitMasters didn’t take part – and now it’s even tougher. I haven’t encountered that sense of leadership in the sector yet.

Unequivocally yes. I think that further supply clustering is essential. But working together and merging is not a goal in itself. That will only work when parties have the same commitment and market vision. We are constantly looking at that. And even in our location, there are plenty of options there. What doesn’t happen today, could happen tomorrow. We’re also looking abroad. This region is perfectly oriented internationally. I recently visited one of our blueberry growers who sells a lot from home to German consumers, with a 20 hectare cultivation. So what’s abroad then? The discussion being held within producer organizations, isn’t whether we want to cooperate, but how to do it in the long run. Within the horticultural acceleration agenda, that’s now been addressed to work together with production and trading companies in terms of regional branding. That can be utilized much better than we’re doing today.