Presentation of business studies book on the agrifood sector to Minister Verburg

Prof. Dany Jacobs, Dr Hendrik Snijders and Dr Hein Vrolijk of the Faculty of Management and Organization were commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) to write the book ‘De economische kracht van agrofood in Nederland’ [The economic power of agrifood in the Netherlands]. On Monday 2 July 2007 from 4-5 p.m., Minister Verburg of LNV will be officially presented with the book and give a speech in the Nieuwspoort press centre in The Hague.

The research is a follow-up to the overview produced in 2005 by the faculty of the 100 Dutch product groups with the greatest share of the world export market. At the time, it turned out that as many as half of these 100 product groups came from the agrifood sector. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality then posed the obvious question to the Faculty – what exactly makes the Dutch agrifood chain so successful?

The economic power of sectors and countries can be adequately identified using the methodology of the American management guru Michael E. Porter. Headed by Hendrik Snijders, this methodology has now been applied to the Dutch agrifood sector. This specifically involved the agriculture and food clusters in the primary, processing and supply sectors. The research examined the following product groups in detail: cut flowers, mussels, potatoes, cocoa, pigs, veterinary vaccinations and beer.

The Porter analysis has revealed that the agrifood sector is a thriving and competitive industry in the world market. However, it also has significant weaknesses now that the world economy is growing fast and new countries are making their international marks. The book by Snijders, Jacobs and Vrolijk is a timely examination of the opportunities and threats faced by one of the most important pillars of our economy.