Duijvestijn Tomatoes won the award for their great dedication to sustainability. The high tech Dutch grower is cultivating greenhouse tomatoes in the most sustainable way possible; they were one of the first growers to use geothermal energy and last year they started the production in their ID-greenhouse; the first successful commercial food producing greenhouse that is outfitted with double insulated glass. The ID-greenhouse of Duijvestijn Tomatoes is using 60 percent less energy than a standard greenhouse, a 10 percent higher production can be achieved and it uses less water and crop protection than an average Dutch greenhouse. On top of this Duijvestijn has been innovative in other ways as well; for example they have re-used their old crop and plant material to make a biobased tomato box.
According to grower Peter Duijvestijn, he and his three other brothers have always been looking to the future. "I can't just sit down when I am seventy years old and also confess to my grandchildren that i have contributed to the polution of our planet", he said at the event. "We have to take our responsibility and act now. Innovate everyday and think ahead. Leave a clean planet behind for the next generation! "After receiving the award from Windset Farms CEO John Newell he concluded: "Oh, and make sure that the world starts eating more tomatoes!"
The event was attended by a selection of leading international greenhouse tomato growers that actively participated in the event. At the event the 10 finalists were presented. The following 9 companies were also nominated as finalists:
-United Farms, Mexico. Maurico Revah was nominated for United Farms' close connection with the Dutch industry; their growers emphasized the Dutch high end technology. Currently United Farms was one of the first and still one of the few Mexican growers that operate diffuse glass Venlo greenhouses.
-R&L Holt, United Kingdom, represented by Roly Holt. This UK family business is known for their expertise and pioneering work with NFT systems in vine crops. R&L Holt is growing greenhouse tomatoes with a nutrient film technique instead of the common substrate slabs; This results in a balanced crop that can be steered with conductivity.
-Scherzer Gemuse, Germany is a large greenhouse grower that uses the residual heat from a nearby plant to heat their greenhouses. As well as this the grower is pioneering with plant cell pressure measurements to detect plant stress and to obtain more information on the plants reactions to external influences as temperature, light, CO2 etc.
-Royal Pride Group, The Netherlands, represented by Frank van Kleef. Royal Pride is one of the largest growers in The Netherlands. They are known for their expertise and their will to share this knowledge in educational programs like the Horticultural Business School that they co-founded. As well as this, Royal Pride is involved in a plan to use the residual heat from a large multinational's data center to heat their greenhouses.
-Red Star, represented by Gert van Straalen, has high end greenhouse operations in The Netherlands and The UK, as well as production in the Mediterranean. Seven years ago, they were the first growers that installed LEDs in a commercial tomato greenhouse and they are still developing in this field today. They were also the first grower in The Netherlands to built the Ultra Clima Greenhouse that was designed by Casey Houweling and KUBO.
-Matysha, Morocco. Matysha is known for their social responsibility and the commitment to their local workers. For them, sustainability means investing in the local community and placing the workers and environment in first place. Focussing on the human rights and social aspects are of paramount importance at Matysha.
-Kare Wiig, Norway. Kare Wiig is an innovative Norwegian grower that produces only for the domestic market.By growing with advanced technologies, they have been dedicated to producing special and tasty, and above all healthy varieties for the consumers in Norway.
-Houwelings Tomatoes, Canada & United States, represented by David Bell. The Ultra Clima Greenhouse design from grower Casey Houweling and greenhouse manufacturer KUBO was a breakthrough for the global development of the semi closed greenhouse.
-D'Vine Ripe, Australia. D'Vine ripe is the largest family owned greenhouse grower in Australia. They are rewarded for their work to expand the popularity of the tomato in Australia and their sustainable and advanced production technologies.
The Tomato Inspiration Event and the award ceremony was organized for the second time by HortiBiz and Van Duijn and Partners at the Ellington Hotel in Berlin, Germany. A great selection of delegates from leading tomato growers and a selection of sponsors gathered in Berlin to be inspired and learn from each other. As well as this a trend battle discussed the future of the tomato and the trends in cultivation and marketing on both product, process and purpose level. Renowed international businessman and guest speaker Gunter Pauli took his chance to inspire the attendees with his points of view and experience on innovative entrepreneurship.
Click here to read the jury report (PDF).
For more information
Duivenstijn Tomaten
Overgauwseweg 46-A
2641 NG Pijnacker
The Netherlands
T: +31 15 36 20 760
Email: info@duijvestijntomaten.nl
duijvestijntomaten.nl