36 CADERNOS DE ANÁLISE E PROSPETIVA CULTIVAR N.º 32 DEZEMBRO 2024 – Cooperativas What makes agricultural cooperatives in The Netherlands successful? JOS BIJMAN Associate Professor of Cooperative Organisations, Business Management & Organisation Group, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands Introduction The Netherlands has a rich tradition of cooperative development in agriculture. Over the years, cooperatives have been able to successfully adjust to changes in policies, market conditions, and technologies. While new strategies have been developed for new markets and new products, cooperatives have remained remarkably stable in their market shares over the 80 years. A cooperative is a business organisation; it has an economic purpose, mainly to support farmer-members in their income-generating activities. The cooperative is a semi-independent business. While it is legally an independent organisation, the cooperative is tied to member interests, as it has to provide goods and services that benefit the members. In return, members provide equity capital, they involve themselves in (democratic) decision-making, and they are loyal in the business transaction with their cooperative. This article explores the historical success factors of agricultural cooperatives in The Netherlands and discusses current challenges. Will the success factors of the past also help in the near future. Climate change, de-globalization, digitalization, and increasing diversity among farms pose new challenges. Are farmers still willing to be members of a cooperative? Can cooperatives maintain their competitive position? This article will also address these questions. 1. Fewer cooperatives but stable market share While the number of farmers has gradually declined over the last 80 years, agricultural production has continued to increase. In 2023 only about 50,000 farmers remained, while the total added value generated by agriculture and food handling was about 80 billion euro. Cooperatives take responsibility for a major share of this added value. Figure 1 shows that almost 70% of all agricultural products produced by Dutch farmers are handled by cooperatives. The figure also shows overall market shares of agricultural cooperatives in other Member States of the European Union, with an EU average of 40%. While these are 2010 figures, it is estimated that market shares have not changed much. The Netherlands has about 250 agricultural cooperatives. Table 1 shows the 20 largest cooperatives, their main products, turnover, number of employees, and number of members. Many farmers are member of more than one cooperative. For instance, most dairy farmers are members of a feed cooperative as well as of a milk processing cooperative. Table 1, column 3, also shows the main agricultural products of The Netherlands: milk, sugar beets, potatoes, animal breeding, fruits, vegetables, and flowers and bulbs. For most of these products, cooperatives account for 80 – 100 % of the market. Figure 1 – Market shares of agricultural cooperatives (2010) 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% FI NL DK SEIE FR MT AT BE SI DE ESIT PT LV CZ PL EE HU GR SK LT UK RO BG LU CY EU27
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