History of Potato Processing in The Netherlands

The potato originated in South America1 where the Incas cultivated and consumed it about 13 000 years ago,2 therefore the history of the potato in Europe and elsewhere in the world began after the discovery of the Americas. When the Spaniards, commanded by Pizarro, conquered Peru and Chile (1525-1543) they found both huge amounts of gold and the potato. They brought this new kind of food to Europe. From 1570 onwards, the potato spread throughout Europe.3 

When Clusius,1 a botanist bom in Arras (France), was appointed to the position of professor at Leiden University (The Netherlands) in 1593, the potato was introduced into The Netherlands. From there, it slowly spread over the rest of The Netherlands, being mainly used as food. About 1700 farmers began, on a small scale, to produce starch from potatoes for the purpose of starching linen. Beside this application, potato starch was mainly used by the monarchies in Europe to powder faces and wigs, a very fashionable custom at that time. 

About the middle of the eighteenth century, the potato was introduced into the north of The Netherlands, where the soil was quite suitable for this new type of vegetable. There was also a good infrastructure for transporting the potatoes, i.e. the canals that had been dug to transport blocks of peat. 

In The Netherlands, the production of potato starch in factories began in Gouda for the purpose of converting it to syrup. Jacobus Hendrikus van de Wetering was able to build on the invention of Kirchhoff (Chapter 21) and received permission to construct a syrup factory in Gouda in 1819. 

In 1839, W.A. Scholten started the production of potato starch in the northern part of The Netherlands. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was discovered that the growth frequency of potatoes on a field can be increased from once in seven years to once in two years by the application of fertilizer. In 1897, W.A. Scholten, along with 13 other starch producers, formed a cartel to reduce the price to be paid to the farmers for potatoes. 

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