Farm Frites wants a stable supply of potatoes and is therefore focusing on multi-year contracts in contract negotiations this year.
The focus is therefore on two and three-year fixed-price contracts, whereby a fixed-price agreement for three years is seen as the basis. For the 2021 harvest, the processor also intends to contract an equal or slightly larger area.
For a three-year contract, the basic price for Innovator and Agria will remain at the basic price that applied to a one-year contract last year (harvest 2020); € 95 (Fontane), € 115 (Innovator) and € 112.50 (Agria). With a two-year contract, the grower receives € 5 per tonne discount on the basic price. And with a one-year contract, that discount is € 7.50.
Base price one-year contracts
The basic price of one-year contracts for the various storage potatoes is reduced by the potato processor by € 7.50 per ton. The basic price of Fontane thus comes to € 87.50 per ton (delivery week 35-44). For the 2020 harvest, this basic price was still € 95 per ton. The basic price for Innovator will then also be € 107.50 per ton and for Agria € 105 per ton. This means that for delivery in week 17 for Fontane, Innovator and Agria, € 142.50, € 162.50 and € 160 per tonne respectively will be contracted. All these prices are increased by € 7.50 per tonne for three-year agreements.
Mechanical cooling
For the 2020 harvest, Farm Frites introduced a mechanical cooling fee for the main harvest varieties from week 20. This fee will be introduced earlier for the 2021 harvest for Innovators. From week 10, a grower will receive a fee of € 7 on top of the basic price + weekly delivery fee for Innovator. This means that in weeks 17 and 28 the one-year contract price for Innovator will be € 170.50 and € 200.50 respectively, including the fee for mechanical storage. For Fontane and Agrias this has also been adjusted and starts in week 20 with € 7 per ton and increases to € 12 in week 30.
Ex-land price contract decreases
Next season, the focus will not be on finished potatoes. Farm Frites will start contracting for the early potato varieties a week later for the 2021 harvest and will lower the contract prices for a three-year contract for the off-land period for the 2021 harvest. contracted lower than for the 2020 harvest; € 167.50 per tonne in week 27, decreasing to € 82.50 in week 39. The price for a three-year contract for the early varieties Felsina and Zorba is compared to last season in the delivery period from week 30 to week 39 with € 5 per ton per week.
The early potato varieties and Agrias are contracted for 40 millimeters upwards. The main crop varieties such as Fontane’s and Innovators at 35 millimeters up. Overtons can be recorded in other contract forms (4F system, daily price, click contract, tender, rolling) that the processor offers. For the 2020 harvest, the so-called ‘rolling contract’ was introduced to replace the two and three-year contracts to put more potatoes on contract. The rolling three-year contract is still offered by the processor with an additional € 2.50 per ton on top of the price for a one-year contract.
Seed potato price adjusted
Farm Frites has adjusted the seed potato prices for the 2021 harvest slightly downwards. The Innovator is delivered split in size 35/45 and 45/50. The hectare price for seed potatoes delivered in week 5 is € 1,235 for both grades. Fontane seed potatoes are supplied in size 35/50. The hectare price delivered in week 5 will then be around € 1,139.
