HZPC introduces online potato calculator to create sustainability awareness

October 08, 2021

“We want to help our customers make a conscious, sustainable choice of varieties,” explains the breeding company’s Marketing Specialist Hans Langedijk.

Access to sustainable varieties

The recently introduced online tool allows customers to convert their knowledge and experience into a tailor-made choice for a sustainable variety. Buyers can then find the potato variety that will have the largest yield in the area where they will be grown, the Dutch company explains. In addition, they immediately have access to the most sustainable potato varieties from HZPC: the Even Greener variety package. This is a new selection of varieties that, according to HZPC, all score above average in terms of sustainability.

Flexible tool

“With the potato calculator, we have created a flexible tool that allows the customer to take into account the importance of various sustainability characteristics. We take into account 35 topics, brought together in five main areas,” explains the marketer. These are marketable yield, water use, crop protection, storability and fertilizer. “Based on the customer’s choice, we then calculate which variety best fits their wishes. The model is based on 35 potato properties that HZPC has researched for years. A variety earns durability points. By weighing what the customer considers important, the points carry more or less weight in the choice for a specific variety. This results in three most relevant varieties,” Langedijk explains.

Even Greener

HZPC currently has highlighted six varieties that score well within the model. These are marketed as the Even Greener varieties: Camelia, Cayman, Emanuelle, Mozart, Sagitta and Taurus. “In addition to these varieties, the potato calculator also offers other varieties that fit within the customer’s chosen sustainability profile,” says Langedijk, adding that the customer can then click through to the landing page of the variety to view the cultivation instructions.

Continuous development

“We will continue to develop the potato calculator in the coming years. It is a useful tool based on a good and reliable dataset. It is striking that new varieties often offer added value when it comes to sustainability, for example through improved disease resistance and yield,” Langedijk emphasizes. “When a potato variety is introduced to the market, it is and remains a puzzle to determine which variety fits best where. With this awareness module, we want to give our customers a well-founded approach when it comes to sustainability,” he assures.

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