NL: Provincial commissioner visits strawberry farm

Peter Drenth visited the greenhouse horticulture area between Arnhem and Nijmegen on June 7. As a brand new commissioner for the Dutch province of Gelderland, his portfolio includes nature and agriculture, economy and energy transition. On May 30, he left the role of alderman in Doetinchem for the provincial council in Arnhem. It was therefore a pleasant surprise that he visited the greenhouses of Royal Berry in Bemmel within 10 days of his new appointment. His goal was to talk with local business owners about current developments in horticulture and how sustainability can best be achieved.

Jan van Genderen, founder of Royal Berry, led the commissioner around his company. His large team work hard to grow sweet, juicy and shiny strawberries for the European market. They export to countries such as Norway, Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom. The strawberries from Royal Berry can also be found in the Netherlands, but according to Van Genderen this is a tough market dominated mainly by price competition. In other countries, more attention is paid to quality.

Energy transition

Many topics came up during the tour of the company. Energy transition is one of the most pressing issues and requires the full attention of business owners. In 15 years, the availability and affordability of natural gas for horticulture will be very limited. Van Genderen is thinking about this already. He told Peter Drenth a horticultural greenhouse receives a lot of extra heat in summertime. By storing that heat and using it during winter, a lot of energy can be conserved. That does require regulations that allow storage of hot water in deep soil and an energy coordinator who will take care of the sustainability of the horticulture area.

Heat network
Rick Gerichhausen from Zandvoort Flowers also attended the meeting. Gerichhausen, together with his two brothers, grows three kinds of cut flowers in the 'old' horticultural area of Huissen. In recent years, Zandvoort Flowers already invested heavily in making their cultivation more energy-efficient, but the big step towards 100% sustainability has yet to be made. Gerichhausen mainly sees opportunities in the construction of a heating network that not only horticultural businesses are connected to, but also industrial and residential areas. It's important that individual companies also receive support from Greenport Gelderland for their sustainability plans in the coming years. This has already led to tangible results in recent years.

Innovation

Finally, Jan Taks of NextGarden informed Peter Drenth about a number of innovative projects being developed in the area. This includes the production of vegetable protein, the cultivation of spices, setting up new sales chains and innovative lighting techniques. Before he left, Peter Drenth indicated that he had a clear picture of the economic and social significance of greenhouse horticulture. It's up to business owners to decide on the direction, and the province will play a facilitating role. It's not the number of greenhouses that's important, but the contribution that horticultural businesses can make to energy transition and the emergence of a circular economy. In this area there are great opportunities for Gelderland horticulture.

Source: Greenport Arnhem-Nijmegen