Dutch growers, Rabobank and government form coalition

Five large Dutch growers associations, the government and the Rabobank have formed a coalition. Together, they want to improve the situation in the Dutch horticulture. For quite some years, growers hardly earn enough money to survive.

The five large growers associations are Best of Four, DOOR, The Greenery, Harvest House and Van Nature, accounting for over 70% of the Dutch vegetable glasshouse area. The new partnership, which is called 'Federation of Fruit Vegetable Organizations', formed a coalition agreement with the Dutch government and the Rabobank. The reason for this is the need for solid and central organized cooperation to improve the dramatic situation of the Dutch greenhouse vegetable sector.

Within the coalition, the Rabobank, the largest financier of Dutch horticulture, is supposed to lead the restructuring of the sector. The new coalition has identified five topics to focus on to improve the bad situation in the Dutch horticultural sector. The grower associations need to focus on improving the marketing structure, while the government is needed to optimize infrastructure, logistics and legislation.