Portrait series – BSR Food

March 11, 2014

Organic Potatoes – The Recipe for Success

Located in Ungurpils, in northern Latvia, is Europe’s smallest factory for potato starch. For years it was struggling to survive. Thanks to Ideon Agro Food it is now thriving.

“The only way for this factory to survive was to find a unique niche. So in 2009, with the help of Ideon Agro Food, we decided to give organic production a shot,” says Christer Karlsson, Quality Manager of Lyckeby Culinar, the company that owns Aloja Starkelsen, along with several other potato starch factories located in Sweden and the Czech Republic. Ideon Agro Food is a network of companies, researchers and public players involved in the food industry in the Baltic Sea Region. It is also part of the BSR Stars program. Lyckeby Culinar has been a member of the network for about ten years never expecting that the benefits of membership could be this great.

Organic potato starch requires organically cultivated potatoes, which in turn depend on organic seed potatoes. Through the Ideon Agro Food network, Lyckeby Culinar received help to further develop the special type of seed potatoes required for organic cultivation. The network then helped locate Latvian and Estonian farmers willing to adopt organic farming methods and start cultivating organic potatoes. Finally, EU funding was secured for research relating to market size and potential, as well as training of those interested in becoming organic farmers. “The farmers see that we have a long-term commitment. Right now we have about ten farmers cultivating potato for our factory and an additional 30-50 hoping to receive training,” says Karlsson.

Production started on a small scale, but has increased bit by bit and is now at a level where the demand is higher than the supply. Turnover is about 6 million euro per year. “We are now the second largest producer of organic potato starch in the world,” says Karlsson. Through the Ideon Agro Food network, Lyckeby Culinar came in contact with Finnish companies also working with organic potatoes. “We joined forces which made sales a lot easier. Together we had higher credibility,” says Karlsson.

Ideon Agro Food has also helped other Swedish companies expand their sales across borders. For example, a small flax seed producer on Österlen found a market in Finland thanks to the efforts of Ideon Agro Food. “We know Sweden and the region quite well so when someone is looking for something we are often able to assist,” says Inger Ahldén, head of Ideon Agro Food.

Written by Kajsa Norman
Photos by Torbjörn Lagerwall