Belgian tomato grower Stoffels wins 'Horticultural Oscar'

Last week, Belgian tomato grower Stoffels won an Agrafiek award, an ‘Oscar for agri- and horticulture’. The company was awarded in the category ‘innovation and management’. The Belgian Agrafiek competition is only held every two year. The winners were announced at Agribex, the international fair for agriculture and cattle breeding held in Brussels. With the competition, organizer Rekad, an agrarian publisher from Herentals, wants to award farmers and horticulturists who manage their company in an innovative and sustainable way.

The jury had words of praise for Stoffels’s innovativeness and personnel management. Furthermore they spoke about the sustainable cultivation and the design of their own packagings, without ignoring the role of auction company the Veiling in Hoogstraten. “Not only is this glasshouse company one of the biggest tomato companies in our country, it also has taken the lead in the field of innovation for eighteen years already.”

“It was pretty exciting because we were the last category of which the winners were announced”, says Paul Stoffels. “Of course, being nominated, you would like to go home with the award. It is a real honour, especially considering the category we were nominated in. Innovative entrepreneurship and good management are two pillars on which we try to build our company.”

For more information on Stoffels Tomaten, please visit: www.stoffels-tomaten.be