Tried and tested in the celeriac trade, Robert den Ouden started his own company last year: Rodeno Agri Products. An unbelievably good celeriac year followed immediately after. "We sold a record amount of celeriac, but it was also a good season with regards to quality. There are still good quality celeriac available from the 2015 harvest," says Robert. "We have now supplied the last celeriac of the old harvest, and harvested the first of the new."
"Three, four years ago there was still a gap between the old and new harvest, but in recent years we have been rolling from the old into the new harvest. The celeriac are growing like cabbages. They had a lot of water and now they're getting heat," continues Robert. "There is considerable growth, but anything could happen. This year the Dutch celeriac area has grown from around 1,500 hectares to 1,700 hectares. But it doesn't matter much for the market situation how much there is in the Netherlands. What is more important is what is happening abroad. No disaster is the biggest disaster."
This disaster took place in Poland last year, where the production decrease significantly in the autumn due to the dry weather. "Due to this we had excellent demand from Poland in March, April and May. They really demanded," says Robert. "The quality was so good this year that almost all celeriac went into the fresh market, whilst in other years a lot of parties were available for the industry. The expectations were even so high that the price for the farmer was said to rise above a Euro, but these expectations didn't come to fruition. I didn't pay more than 70 cents myself."
Rodeno Agri Products' activities consist of supplying field crop celeriac to packaging stations in the Netherlands and abroad. "Last year I bought a lot of celeriac early, on the field, on a hectare basis, which meant I had a lot available. Contracts are the basis for me, but I freely buy the bulk. Celeriac is my core business, but I also trade in beetroot, carrots, cabbages and red onions. It's an advantage that I'm known to so many growers and buyers in the celeriac trade. They can't take this first year from me anyway," concludes Robert.
For more information:
Rodeno Agri Products
Robert den Ouden
Oude Rijksweg 47
4472 AE 's-Heer-Hendrikskinderen
+31(0)6 531 90 100
info@rodeno.nl
www.rodeno.nl