“Tapping into new markets is very exciting work”

‘I lead the commercial team at Biocore,’ says Arnoud. ‘It consists of logistics specialists, traders, a business developer, and me. Besides managing the team, I am also in touch with customers and suppliers daily. I am responsible for organic wheat and organic barley.’ 

Arnoud has been a part of Biocore since 2018. ‘I started as a trader. It was all entirely new to me because I used to work in the software industry.’  

Why the switch? ‘I wanted to go somewhere where there would always be plenty of work and I chose the food world. An acquaintance of mine put me in touch with someone who recommended Biocore to me. During the pandemic, it was confirmed: this is a good, stable choice.’

‘At Biocore, we supply organic products to the feed, food, and pet food industries. Some examples? Organic grains, oilseeds, legumes, and by-products such as sunflower seeds and field beans. They go to feed compound companies. Other customers include flourmills, bakeries and oil crushers. Obviously, I had a lot to learn when I joined the company.’ 

‘Triticale, to name just one thing, is a kind of grain I had never heard of.’ Arnoud smiles. ‘My manager Marco said: “Give it a year.” I put in a lot of effort, getting to know our products, customers, and suppliers. After six months, one of our colleagues left. I took over a lot of his work and that accelerated everything. But I’m still learning new things every day.’ 

‘I have colleagues who previously worked in logistics and are now traders. That gave them an advantage. They know the products, know the flows from A to B. In retrospect, I would have liked to follow the same route.’ 

‘About 3% of the world market is organic,’ says Arnoud. ‘Of course, we want that to increase. I enjoy contributing to that. We are already one of the biggest in Europe. Western Europe and Scandinavia in particular are important sales markets for us. We do a lot of sourcing in other parts of Europe: mainly Eastern Europe, countries like the Czech Republic, Romania, the Baltic States. We have an office in Ukraine.’ Also outside of Europe, China, Kazachstan and African countries. 

‘Meanwhile, we are also exploring new possibilities, for example in the United States. Tapping into new markets is very exciting work. Ultimately, once you draw up your first contracts there, it’s really worth celebrating.’ 

‘We also work with other companies within Cefetra Group. From the UK, Poland, Spain to Italy, we look for synergy, both for sourcing and sales. Cefetra Premium Oils is located in our office. They supply organic oils, for which we supply the seeds.’ 

‘There is still a lot to gain in terms of organic products, so I would say we have interesting adventures ahead of us. Who knows, maybe even for an additional trader in our team. If you come across a great organic product and you know how to build a book on it, you can run your own shop here.’