"Reduction of the "plastic soup" in the oceans is of everyone's concern"

Since 1946 Benfried has been a household name in horticulture. Situated in the Westland area, it has been part of the developments for decades and serving growers around the world with horticultural supplies. Basically these can be divided over 4 categories;

- Substrates: full range of peat and coco peat substrates and Multigrow® stonewool products with Ecose® eco friendly binder.

Fred van Veldhoven, export manager Benfried:”When it comes to innovation to realize better yields and improved quality, Benfried looks from the grower's angle to take on the challenge. An innovation can only be successful if it meets the grower's goal. To entrepreneurs it needs to be beneficial to start using new technology, growing techniques and/or other developments in the first place. At Benfried we understand this and therefore focus only if these demands are achievable. Traditionally a professional team of product specialists ensure this and don't lose focus on combining these requirements. Investing in people within the Benfried group of companies and sharing this knowledge within our network of partners and customers, contributes to the global advancement of the horticultural industry.”

Benfried sees a huge challenge coming to feed a growing world population (> 9 billion by 2050), growing shortage of freshwater, to switch to green energy and to preserve nature at the same time. To grow vegetables under controlled conditions in hydroponic systems is part of the answer. In this area Benfried contributes with a number of solutions. "Being part of these developments of sustainable products for decades there is now a variety of options available. We are proud to exhibit and show some of these products during GreenTech."

Multigrow Ecose® is a Benfried substrate. Fred:”This is the only stonewool substrate with organic binder. Ecose® stands for "eco friendly glucose" and consists out of a number of patented environmentally friendly components. Used in closed fertigation systems it will immediately contribute to the use of less fertilizers and chemicals. 

Bio Elite® horticultural twine is being used for the production of crop support products, such as tomato hooks and used in increasingly more crops to deal with waste management of plastics. Reduction of the "plastic soup" in the oceans is of everyone's concern. With 1% more light leading to 1% more production, it's important to keep the roof of the greenhouse as clean as possible. This goes for glasshouses as well as for plastic greenhouses, which still makes up for the largest part of protected production.

The new Compact Roof Washer® is designed to clean both glass- and plastic greenhouses and weighs less than 100 kilograms. It can be handled easily by one person or run fully automatic. With a smart and strong water spray cleaning the gutter thoroughly and reliably, with soft brushes the glass or plastic gets clean with a capital "C". On top of that the Compact Roof washer uses up to 1/3 less water than larger installations. The costs of the Compact Roof washer depends on the options, but will be a lot more economical than the large and fixed installations. It can easily be used by neighbouring companies at the time when it's needed most.”

"At Benfried we believe that the future of horticulture is looking brighter than ever. Innovation meets feasible goals in a rapid sequence, making this era more interesting than ever before. We look forward to "Grow with you."