"Same product more lucrative in smaller package"

Kees van Dam started at Koat in May 2013. He notes a couple of things compared to the market where he worked before. Kees: "Dutch growers earn too little when they only offer their wonderful products in bulk or large packages. Those aren’t fair prices. Offering the same product in small packages is much more lucrative. A couple of growers have already taken this step. I expect this development to continue. That would be logical and understandable in any case." Kees notices that in the Netherlands intermediate companies small pack the growers’ products. Abroad many growers do this themselves. Why doesn’t the Dutch grower do this more often?

Kees expects the use of robotics to increase further: "That is the future. It provides labor savings, flexibility and increased productivity in processing. These parameters are becoming increasingly important in the (processing) of professional cultivation." In the meantime Koat has delivered robotic systems to Red Tomatoes in Austria and Golden Acre Farms in Canada, among others. And Koat is already diligently working on another robotic system.

Between 2013 and 2016 a lot has changed at Koat. Most important is the company's emphasis on internationalization. Currently 70% -75% of revenue comes from abroad. Kees is ambitious: he expects to double revenue in 5 years. The fact is that there’s room for it. Due to the growing food demand in combination with urbanization, Kees expects an increase in covered crops. Add to that the increasing focus of the grower on cost reduction and production increase. This 'focus train' will rage on for a while. Kees laughs: "And then they’ll soon end up at Koat."

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