19 October 2022
|
Variety development and investments will bear fruit, CEO states.
BREEDING company HZPC is seeing its profits pick up again after a challenging time during 2020-2021, it has been reported.
The Dutch company issued details of its annual accounts for 2021-2022 after the supervisory board met on October 6th and the general meeting of shareholders took place.
HZPC's turnover was 350 Euro, compared to 312 the previous year, and it sold almost 900,000 tonnes of seed potatoes directly or through licensees.
The Covid-19 crisis and the impact of a crisis in the Lebanon forced HZPC to reorganise, resulting in lower cost increases in 2020 and 2021.
Better market conditions have since increased sales, but net sales were close to zero following the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine in February. It was a particularly uncertain time for ware growers, the company said in its annual statement.
Nevertheless strong growth is foreseen outside Europe.
CEO Gerard Backx said: "The world has become more unpredictable and yet we manage to hold our own in uncertain times. I am therefore cautiously positive about the coming financial year, with more sales and a similar level of profit.
He said the industry was facing high inflation and energy costs, forcing growers and potato processors to make different choices, but demand for food was always going to be present and he envisaged substantial growth in India, China, Africa and America.
"We took important steps in the development of new varieties and invested in market development. This will begin to bear fruit in the coming year - I have full confidence in that," he said.