In September 2014, Renaat Kuipers left Veiling Haspengouw. According to him, the biggest challenge was to keep all parties satisfied. “A cooperative is an especially unusual structure. You have shareholders, suppliers, producers and customers. Suppliers are, at the same time, also shareholders, making it even more difficult. It went well for over twenty years, but perhaps I stayed on too long.” Kuipers told his story especially for AGF and Primeur. He is currently working for POM Vlaams-Brabant.
Difficult cooperation
Not long after Kuipers left, Veiling Haspengouw started a cooperation with Univeg. As a result, the horizontal bundling of fruit was integrated in a vertical network. “The combination of a company quoted on the stock exchange and a cooperative was difficult. I expected it to be. The cooperation with Baywa was comparable. That also failed because both companies strived for contradictory interests.”
BFV - Haspengouw merger was nearly completed
Currently there are plans for Veiling Haspengouw to be taken over by BFV. “A cooperation with BFV was not new. The merger was almost completed in 2012. The papers describing the cooperation were ready to be signed. Filip Lowette and I had drafted this proposal together. The respective boards of management had agreed. It was already known then that BFV would eventually have to move to a different location, and they would receive a fitting compensation for that. This could have been used for a merger. However, the then Minister of Agriculture and the mayor then decided not to invest in a cooperation of two auctions. Without subsidies, the boards of management decided to partially put the trajectory on hold. Veiling Haspengouw then opted for a cooperation with Univeg.”
Less loyal
Through the years, Kuipers saw that members of Veiling Haspengouw became less and less loyal. “The board of management allowed too much, concerning the cultivators. They were too tolerant with sales besides the auction. Cultivators provided supplies, but much was also directly sold and exported to Russia. Cultivators could easily deliver ‘bulk’ to trade, and started wondering more often why they should have to do so through the auction. They were paid well. We were much too easy-going in that regard, we should have been clearer in their obligation to deliver.”