Interview with Jan Wolleswinkel at the Poultry Farming magazine
Editorial Bouke Poelsma
Jan Wolleswinkel (Dutch Poultry Center): “Working together to remain a leading country”
Network organisation Dutch Poultry Center (DPC) has been around for twenty years. Chairman Jan Wolleswinkel (77) looks back and forward. “It's time to look in the mirror and reframe our mission.”
At the age of 77, Jan Wolleswinkel has not yet lost his sharpness. He is a seasoned director and holds a number of positions. As chairman of the Dutch Poultry Center (DPC), he follows developments in poultry farming closely. Wolleswinkel has a large network in the sector and knows how things work. In 2012, he resigned as NOP chairman after thirteen years. A year later, he was given the gavel of the network organisation DPC, which recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary. A great opportunity for a moment of reflection.
Profile | Jan Wolleswinkel, Dutch Poultry Center
Jan Wolleswinkel (77) has a wealth of experience in the poultry world and, as a seasoned director, has a large network both at home and abroad. Wolleswinkel ran a mixed farm in Renswoude (U.) for many years with mother stock, rearing and laying hens over the years. Wolleswinkel has also been an alderman and deputy mayor in Renswoude, and wielded the gavel of the NOP for thirteen years.
He has held a number of different management positions at Rabobank. Since 2013, he has been chairman of the Dutch Poultry Center network organisation. Wolleswinkel can confirm that he is feeling great and has the energy to continue for at least another two years. “I don't know yet whether I will add a term to it after that.”
Why was DPC founded twenty years ago?
“DPC was founded after the bird flu in 2003. What happened to the sector at the time was unprecedented and unheard of. It was really a turning point. It took a good year to get out of trouble. When everything got going again, we noticed how we were viewed abroad. “A messy country with diseases,” we heard. The bird flu had destroyed the good name of the Netherlands. The disease was gone and under control, but we continued to struggle. Companies also had to deal with it. That was the first step.”
What was your role in the founding of DPC?
“I was NOP chairman and wanted to keep things separate. I was indirectly involved in the establishment of DPC, in an advisory capacity, but I deliberately chose not to sit on the board. It was the mayor of Barneveld who confronted us about the fact that the business community in the poultry sector was not working well together. In that municipality, there are 25 companies active in the poultry sector at international level. When a Chinese delegation visited to look at a new packer, there was no discussion about other Dutch products. This then led to a process being established to allow companies to come into contact with one another and to respond better. DPC emerged from that.”
What is the mission of Dutch Poultry Center?
“The Netherlands is a powerful name in the poultry world, with strong and innovative companies. We are trying to increase and strengthen that position, for which there are a number of options. We visit trade fairs and organise incoming and outgoing trade missions. We are a network organisation and not an advocate – we try to be involved in everything, understand everything and know everyone. For example, if someone calls from Nigeria with a question about poultry, they know where to find us in The Hague. Our members are more than happy to receive these delegations. We have close contacts and can put a programme together.”
How many members does DPC have?
“We have over a hundred members. The number of members fluctuates and is currently experiencing a certain amount of pressure. That requires constant attention. Sometimes a member is added, sometimes one drops out. Usually companies operating internationally. That is not a condition, clearly not. However, from the Netherlands you can quickly find yourself abroad, especially if you are active in the supply industry.”
What is your budget?
“It is about €200,000. Members pay contributions. The amount depends on the number of employees active in the poultry department at the company. We work with a graduated system. Roughly speaking, you are talking about an average contribution of €2,000 per company. We can survive with that. We are not there to save the money. We have a buffer which we built up largely during the coronavirus period. People weren’t getting together back then. There were no trade fairs and there was no travel. We did temporarily reduce the contribution.”
How do you assess member involvement?
“Our members have different perspectives. Some companies you never see at networking events. They faithfully pay their dues but are supposedly too busy to attend anything. Other companies are always there and enjoy meeting people. Since last year, we have had a new relationship manager in Teus Korevaar. He is the successor to Jan Hulzebosch, who died suddenly a year and a half ago. Teus is on the payroll at Aeres MBO in Barneveld and travels for us one day a week to visit our members. That's going very well.”
What are your objectives?
“I like to focus on new developments that suit the current era. I think the fact that our members Hendrix Genetics and Aeres/Poultry Expertise Center want to set up a training programme for poultry courses is a great development. Teun van de Braak and Janne van Rooij are leading the way in giving education more substance. There will be a kick-off meeting on 5 February to which all of our members are invited. It is useful for our members to know what education is available in our country. It is very important to us that we have good and close contact with the Aeres educational institution.
Can you hit the mark when it comes to rephrasing?
“We can read the newspaper and look at the screen and be annoyed by the decision-making in The Hague. But we can also look at each other and join forces to move forward as a hundred companies. We have everything in house. We just have to shape it. We need to work together even more to remain a leading country. Setting up a new training programme fits perfectly under the DPC umbrella. It is important to maintain and increase the level of knowledge. I have high hopes that something will get off the ground, especially when I see the efforts that are going in. The business community clearly needs this and must finance the training programme itself.”
Our members are not all concerned about the purchase schemes.
What are the most important achievements that DPC has achieved in twenty years?
“The organisation stands and is seen. I think that's important. We have a unique position in the sector. We are not a government organisation. It is our members who decide. Every day is a challenge to do something for the sector. We are a foundation and a volunteer organisation with seven well-intentioned board members. We are passionate about the sector and we work unpaid, in return for an expense allowance.”
The sector is shrinking. How do you view this and what consequences will it have?
“I think it's a shame that so many companies are closing down. I don't believe that if you clean up the Gelderse Valley, the Veluwe will be saved. I don't want that. I have been concerned for years about the critical mass of the Dutch poultry sector. We no longer have a pilot company, there is consolidation throughout the chain and the number of new poultry veterinarians is declining. Turkey farming has been decimated and duck farming is under pressure. So on and on. Our members, however, take a more nuanced view. Companies operating internationally are not all concerned about a purchase scheme in the Netherlands.”
What are your expectations for 2025?
“It will be an exciting year. It remains to be seen what the consequences of court decisions will be. The statements we have heard before make you even more gloomy as they offer hardly any perspective at all. What hasn't already been said and written about the PAS detectors? More than five years have passed and no one can solve it. We are ruled by models, Omtzigt stated in his book. I thought that was a nice shout. How do you break that? It requires courage from administrators. The court rulings make it difficult.”
