At the table with our growers
With the very best potatoes grown by the very best growers we are able to produce the best products. Thanks to our long-term relationships with our growers and the close involvement of our growers in Aviko, and vice versa, we are able to work together on future-proof potato growing: profitable and sustainable.
Proud Farmers
The challenges we face in potato growing among others flow from the European Commission’s Green Deal:
- Financial returns for the grower;
- Social appreciation of the arable farming sector;
- Retention and improvement of soil fertility, including the efficient use of minerals and water;
- Reduced dependence on crop protection agents;
- Retention and improvement of biodiversity
- Reducing the CO2 footprint and dealing with the negative consequences of climate change in relation to potato yields and quality.
These challenges can only be met through intensive cooperation throughout the entire chain. This is why we proactively support our growers in faster finding answers to the potato growing challenges they are confronted with pursuant to laws and regulations, social trends and climate change.
Aviko aims to make the growers that supply Aviko proud of their product and buyer. A durable, long-term relationship with growers is a key theme in this respect. Through our parent company, Royal Cosun, a cooperative with over 8,000 growers, many of our potato growers also are indirect owners of Aviko. Our bond with potato growing Netherlands is unique in our sector. This is why cooperation is part of our DNA.
We work together with growers on a profitable, viable and sustainable potato growing and storage sector in which growers feel valued. We aim to help our growers create a future-proof farm that they can pass on to the next generation. This concerns returns, efficiency and yields in order to valorise potatoes as effectively as possible into as much food as possible, whereby the soil is maintained in a healthy condition and any negative impact on the environment is as much as possible limited at the same time.
We give substance to maximising the valorisation of our potatoes by acquiring insight at a very early stage into the quality of the potatoes cultivated by our growers, both in the field and in the warehouses. On the basis of this knowledge, the plans developed by our plants link the right batches to the most appropriate end-products on the basis of quality criteria and product requirements.
This way every batch is optimally utilised and unnecessary transport movements and food waste are prevented. Because Aviko not only produces fries and potato specialities, but also dried potato products, such as granules and flakes, we are also capable of valorising small potatoes or lower-quality potatoes into food. To further prevent food waste, we also work with potatoes that were adversely affected by weather conditions and therefore do not meet standard conditions. Our plants are geared to also use 100% of these batches of potatoes and to valorise them.
“In these times of climate change, sustainability is more pertinent than ever and is a priority item on everyone’s agenda. Every company, agricultural or industrial, must give thought to how it can implement sustainability. We welcome Aviko’s strategy in which the group makes a strong commitment to contributing to a better world by dealing with climate change, supporting its growers and safeguarding their future income.”
Alain Dequeker - Chairman of the French growers delegation PPA (Producteurs Pour Aviko)
Our goals
Sustainable agrochain
15%
of our growers is actively involved in the development of ‘future-proof cultivation’ (2025)
Sustainable agrochain
100%
of our potatoes complies with the ‘SAI Gold’ standard or equivalent (2030)
Targets and KPIs
We are accelerating the transition to future-proof cultivation by formulating best practices and, if relevant, specific cultivation goals together with the corresponding measurement methods. Together with Cosun we are establishing pilot farms on a voluntary basis, distributed across the most important purchasing regions. Together with these pilot growers and our buyers we are using a project-based approach to researching how we can jointly make the chain further sustainable. This approach is a catalyst for change. The pilot farms function as a ‘flywheel’ and enable us to use a positive approach to informing other growers and including them in our sustainability goals. The objective is for 15% of our growers to be actively involved in this journey by 2025.
In addition, it is our goal that by 2030, 100% of our potatoes meets the ‘SAI Gold’ standard or equivalent. The Farm Sustainability Assessment (of the Sustainable Agricultural Initiative (SAI) platform) is an international standard for sustainable production at farms and in arable fields.
6% of our total potato volume is currently grown at the desired level, the remaining potato volume has a ‘SAI Silver’ or equivalent certificate. There is room for improvement here. The potatoes used for our granules and flakes are not yet sufficiently grown at the ‘SAI Gold’ level, while 9% of the potatoes used for our fries are grown at this level.
The majority of our potatoes (90%) comes from growers within a radius of approximately 100-150 kilometres from the plant.
Governance
Our potato purchasing organisation is responsible for the day-to-day state of affairs, activation and implementation of the Proud Farmers pillar. Through many years of cooperation with growers and specifically our Dutch and French growers delegations, the Potato Growing Commission (ATC) and Producteurs Pour Aviko (PPA), respectively, we are seeing that mutual cooperation results in further advances in the area of sustainability.
The constructive discussions and our pragmatic approach form an excellent basis for the implementation of our goals for a sustainable, future-proof chain.
Together with Cosun, our parent organisation, we are actively working together within the ‘Groeikracht’ [Vigorous Growth] programme on sustainability projects in arable fields and we harmonise our respective programmes. The programme ‘Groeikracht’ combines the strengths of potato, sugar beet and chicory growers with those of Cosun and thus facilitates the exchange of knowledge and experience. Projects relating to the themes weed control, soil, crop protection, climate and biodiversity are taking place in arable fields, which makes it possible to improve crops and make them more sustainable.
Projects relating to the themes weed control, soil, crop protection, climate and biodiversity are taking place in arable fields, which makes it possible to improve crops and make them more sustainable.
Stories
Learning and improving together
By combining our strengths and sharing best practices with each other, we are learning and can continue to grow together. In recent years we translated the findings of the research conducted in a number of agronomy projects into specific sustainability recommendations for our growers. Thanks to various long-term research projects, we were able to determine the best storage conditions for the Innovator variety and translated these into practical recommendations for our growers. This way we avoid wastage together. Recently we also shared the lessons learned for reducing losses through possible rotting of the Saprodi variety. Thanks to close cooperation with tens of growers within a two-year research project, we managed to achieve these waste reduction results.
Interview
Search for better varieties
Both Aviko and our supplying potato growers have a need for ‘better’ varieties. Aviko is in contact with breeders about potato varieties that are currently in development and tests them before they are included in the list of varieties. This accelerates the development of ‘better’ varieties. ”Better varieties are varieties that at some place within the chain yield benefits in comparison to current varieties. This can be in various areas. For growers, yield, including in hot/dry years, shelf life and resistance to diseases and plagues are important. These aspects are also important to Aviko, because they determine the crop’s cost. Furthermore, the end-product’s quality and its processing efficiency of course are also important to Aviko,” says Matthijs Meijer, Manager Agronomy at Aviko.
Action Programme Nitrate Directive
In November 2021, the Seventh Nitrate Directive Action Programme was published in the Netherlands. This programme sets out measures for improving the quality of ground and surface waters by reducing and preventing nitrates in agricultural sources. It is a sturdy set of measures with considerable impact on the Dutch agricultural sector. Aviko, together with Cosun and through means of the ‘Groeikracht’ [Vigorous Growth] programme with the growers, contributes to the development of an alternative plan designed to improve soil and water quality, whereby growers retain their freedom of action. This alternative plan is expected to significantly reduce the burden imposed by a far-reaching package of generic measures. This customised plan is currently being worked out in detail. The objective is to enable growers to opt for the generic measures or the customised approach in order to achieve the required standards. We are working together with the Dutch arable farming chain on this, under the banner of the Arable Farming Sector Organisation.
Interview
Search for better varieties
Both Aviko and our supplying potato growers have a need for ‘better’ varieties. Aviko is in contact with breeders about potato varieties that are currently in development and tests them before they are included in the list of varieties. This accelerates the development of ‘better’ varieties. ”Better varieties are varieties that at some place within the chain yield benefits in comparison to current varieties. This can be in various areas. For growers, yield, including in hot/dry years, shelf life and resistance to diseases and plagues are important. These aspects are also important to Aviko, because they determine the crop’s cost. Furthermore, the end-product’s quality and its processing efficiency of course are also important to Aviko,” says Matthijs Meijer, Manager Agronomy at Aviko. New varieties directly (through resistance) or indirectly (through yield) lower the environmental footprint and improve the earnings potential. For Aviko, the introduction of new varieties is one of the ways in which to make potato growing future-proof. Aviko works together with many breeders on testing new varieties. ”For example, Aviko tests varieties that are resistant to phytophthora (fungal disease). By participating in the development of varieties at an early stage, Aviko proactively contributes to the development of potato varieties that have a positive impact on sustainability and the yield of the potato growing sector. But resistance is not my only area of focus,” he smiles, “of course you must also be able to make excellent fries or puree with them.”
New varieties directly (through resistance) or indirectly (through yield) lower the environmental footprint and improve the earnings potential. For Aviko, the introduction of new varieties is one of the ways in which to make potato growing future-proof.
“There are two major issues. First, there are concerns about unacceptably low earnings. Second, there are many legislative changes on the books for the coming years.” Matthijs: “We aim to proactively involve growers in future, sometimes as yet unknown, legislative changes. We assume our responsibility in this respect and I can also give you a good example of this. The germination inhibitor used over the past 40 years was banned. This forced growers to switch over to germination inhibitors that only recently were made available on the market and with which there was as yet no experience. As a result, there is a risk that potatoes cannot be stored properly and will start to germinate, which results in food waste. In a two-year project, Aviko involved growers in the pending changes, tested the new germination inhibitors itself and collected and disseminated all of the experiences with these inhibitors. This has avoided a great deal of food waste and ‘learning costs’. Furthermore, Aviko played a role in contacts with the government, with more practical regulations as a result. We also intend to use this approach – supporting growers in dealing with change – in many other areas, such as nitrogen, the elimination of crop protection agents, climate policy and more.”