The
world-wide market for grass seeds is rather stable. The
challenge for the future is to minimize the effect of the
cycles out of the market.
My successor, Kees Bleeker, has a lot of
experience on how to handle these kinds of situations.
Decisions about medium and long term viability are in his
hands and will be based on concrete and measurable
profitability objectives. I wouldn’t be surprised if he would
focus more on margin rather than volume.
When we came to Oregon, USA, local companies
were concerned that they would be bypassed by vast loads of
imported seeds, but in the end the move has proven to be of
mutual interest. We simply endorsed the situation of high
quality and stable production and contracted another 10,000
new acres of new certified types. Today, Barenbrug USA can
handle the large volumes that are needed to supply national
retail chains as Kmart, Walmart, Home Depot and Ace Hardware.
Through certification and pictograms on each and every bag,
the customer knows: "what is on the bag is in the bag!" Be it
a specific type for lawns, forage or recreation. Amateur or
professional.
