To celebrate the launch of OCI Dynamon, an integrated nitrogen-sulphur fertilizer, which combines the benefits of both nutrients to increase yield and quality, we spoke to Richard Spanjer, who is part of the team that’s been driving this product innovation to offer greater variety and benefits to our agricultural customers across Europe.
Richard, can you start by telling us a bit about yourself?
I’ve lived and worked in the Netherlands my whole life. I was born in Groningen, which is in the Northern part of Holland, and have moved all around since. I started my career in the potato world, after studying food technology and business administration. Outside of work, I enjoy cycling, and my wife and I have two foster children – in addition to three grown-up children – who keep me busy!
How did you come to work for OCI?
My first step into the world of fertilizers was on the wholesale side, so the kind of company who are OCI’s customers today. I’ve been in the industry for more than three decades now, and at OCI for more than ten years. One of the great things about OCI is you really feel a sense of ownership for your work, so although we’re a big global company with operations on four continents, I also feel like I have my own company within it.
What does your role involve?
My role is very varied, I’d summarize it as problem solving. I’m responsible for making sure our supply chain is running smoothly and working with different stakeholders along the chain on any challenges that come up, whether that’s making sure the quality of our products is the same on delivery as it was when it left our factory, managing regulatory considerations, or ensuring safety protocols are maintained throughout.
How did the development of Dynamon come about?
Today isn’t so much a launch as a re-launch. I knew about Dynamon back when I was a customer of OCI on the wholesale side, but we stopped producing it around early 2010. We’d been ahead of our time with the innovation then, and there wasn’t as much demand for the combination of nitrogen and sulphur.
But happily, today the benefits are much more widely recognized. In recent years, I noticed that demand for the product was growing as people became aware of the added benefits of the combination of nitrogen and sulphur on crop yields. This included customers who remembered Dynamon as a high-quality product asking about its availability again. It has been a huge team effort, but we’re excited to be re-launching Dynamon this week, responding to customer demand and expanding our agricultural product portfolio to give our customers more choice and improved yields.
Have there been any challenges in bringing the product to market?
It’s not a challenge as such, but the biggest adjustment has been in adapting our factory from a single-product output to dual. It always takes an adjustment to change your way of doing things, but OCI Global is a lean organization, once people were bought into the idea, it moved quickly. Our first run of the product was perfect – high quality enough to be taken to market, which was a huge victory for those of us who had championed the reintroduction of Dynamon to our product portfolio.
What does OCI’s sustainability strategy mean to you?
It comes back to the fact that at OCI, I can make a difference. From launching new products that improve yields, to our wider sustainability vision, everything we do ladders back to our ambition to have a cleaner and better future. We’re not a company that just talks about doing things, we really embrace change and make progress. When I think about my children, I want them to live in a healthy, good world. There are a lot of things happening in the world that cause me to worry, but by working at OCI, I know I am contributing to creating a better future for my children and generations to come.
What is Dynamon?
OCI Dynamon is an integrated nitrogen-sulphur fertilizer (from OCI Nitrogen) and is recognizable by the added yellow granules.
Its benefits include:
- Increased nitrogen efficiency by combining sulphur in order to get a synergy effect
- Optimal nitrogen/sulphur ratio for all crops
- Directly available nutrients for the crop
- Minimizes ammonia loss
- Uniform, hard, round granules with an even distribution of N and S
- Recognizable by the yellow granules that represent the always consistent quality
- Uniform spreading pattern over wide widths (>50 meters)
- Targeted supply of sulphur for optimal yields and high quality
Find out more about Dynamon here.
