Cees VandenEnden from HortiSource Consulting Ltd. is one of the consultants who is hired by growers in North and Central America. According to the former grower, who has an extensive background in the Dutch and Canadian greenhouse industry, many large operations in his working area are hiring external knowledge. "Growers are very eager to hire a consultant nowadays because it can help them to increase their profit, not only by helping with their climate strategies, but also by influencing their overall management systems."
Before VandenEnden started HortiSource, he was working as a plant propagator in The Netherlands, followed by a career in Canada. As he worked in many Canadian greenhouses, Nature Fresh Farms being the last one, he gained a lot of experience in managing larger companies, and realized that he could share this knowledge with other growers in North and Central America.
VandenEnden visits a large number of greenhouse operations in the Americas on a regular basis, from companies in Ontario to greenhouses in Guatemala, sharing his knowledge with many growers. He helps them adjust their climate strategy for better production, but he said that the biggest challenge for him is to change management’s mindset and overall strategy.
"Of course, you will have to take care of your plants and make sure that you are doing everything possible to achieve the right climate for your crop in order to get the highest amount of kilos per square meter. But optimizing labour and being organised can lead to big improvements, making it possible to become even more successful."
According to VandenEnden, managing labour is a big issue for the growers that he visits. "I try to make them aware of the fact that they will have to think about cost-efficiency, something that often does not get the attention it needs. Growers in the Americas are making good money over the past years, better than their colleagues in The Netherlands. But this doesn't mean that you can lose sight of long term strategies such as cost control".
VandenEnden said that he always makes his customers [the growers] aware of a change of tides. "Growers will need to start thinking about cost-control and optimization of their processes. At this moment they do not think about it as it is not a matter of urgency. Why would you pay for a consultant if you already make enough profit? But when the tide changes and there is more pressure on the prices, extra kilos and cost savings are always more than welcome." These changes do not happen with a turn of a switch, it is a continuous and complex process that evolves with time.
In regards to working more cost effectively, VandenEnden emphasizes more efficient work and performance related rewards for the workers. "If you compare the efficiency of workers in the Americas to the efficiency of labour in The Netherlands, there is still a lot to improve here", he said. "A lot of growers rely on cheap labour, which makes them too comfortable in regards to optimizing labour. Labour in Western Europe might be more expensive, but workers are faster and more productive."
VandenEnden thinks that in the future more growers will need to adjust their mindset and ways of production, but he said that many of his customers are already on the right track. "We already have introduced path registration systems in North America, and most growers are using it."
Besides consulting on labour and cultivation strategies, VandenEnden also assists growers with agricultural insurance issues. "Insuring a greenhouse operation requires quite some knowledge in North America. We can help growers with their insurance policies and also make sure that they are insured with the proper coverage. This is something that is too often underestimated." In case of damages the difficulty often is to make the right claim presentation; here Hortisource can be of assistance also.
For more information:HortiSource Consulting Ltd.
Cees VandenEnden
www.hortisource.ca
cees@hortisource.ca