Originally Richard Colasanti of Excalibur Plastics was a grower based in Leamington, Ontario. After leaving the greenhouse operations of Great Northern Hydroponics, he became the founder of a company that helps growers to improve their business with innovative greenhouse films. “I was a grower myself, and I experienced good results with innovative greenhouse films. I felt the urge to share the potential of these products with fellow growers.”
Mexico
Last month, at the Expo Agroalimentaria Guanajuto, Richard Colasanti proudly announced the launch of a Mexican division, 12 years after founding Excalibur Plastics in 2002. According to Colasanti, the main value added of Excalibur’s products is that these are tailored to their customers’ needs, depending on the area where they are located. Richard explains that they make specific formulas for specific regions, providing the film with various properties, including various degrees of light diffusion or even bird-repellent properties.This strategy led the company’s owners to believe that the best way to serve Mexico, where they decided to expand, was to be in Mexico; this motivated the opening of its Mexican division. “The people in charge of it were already collaborating with the company, so their team joined my team to become a great team,” affirms Colasanti.
Richard Colasanti and Pedro Torres demonstrating the strength of a piece of Excalibur greenhouse film.
Tailor made
According to Colasanto, the Mexican growers are increasingly interested in advanced materials to cover their crops. They are looking for very specific solutions.“This increasing professional level of the growers is one of the major reasons to open a local division. We want to have all of their supplies in stock, so we can offer them even better with tailor made solutions.”
Greenhouse films on stock.
Excalibur can supply plastics of all qualities; from secure materials that are suitable for low and mid tech cultivation to advanced greenhouse films specially developed for high tech cultivation. The greenhouse cover is of paramount importance and the quality of the can be equal to the quality of the harvested produce.
Each film supplied by Excalibur comes with a report from a lab analysis that is conducted in Italy.
Colasanti says that some growers use high-tech plastics on their low-tech greenhouses, which results in a superior growing climate. "Our plastic ensures maximum light qualities with an industry proven anti-condensate promoting an excellent growing environment.” He affirms that Mexico is taking great steps to advance technologically, with support from the Government in the form of investments; a lot of development is going on and the level of the farmers is becoming superior.
The strength of the film nowadays; its hard to break a piece.
Durability
Unlike with glass greenhouses, Mexican growers are required to replace the plastic cover every three years due to the loss of light. According to Colasanti, the Mexican growers served by Excalibur are guaranteed to receive a good service and a durable product that will last for at least 3 years. "Even through winds, the strength of our plastics is phenomenal. Over the years, the plastic will loose it's light intensity only with small very steps, a grower will hardly notice this.
The team from Excalibur Plastics at the Expo AgroAlimentaria in Irapuato, Mexico, last month.
Excalibur Plastics has develop several innovative greenhouse films; from a film that has anti-bird properties to their current clear Long Life Super film and their diffused Long Life Silver, which they have specially developed for the Mexican market. “This long-lasting film is very strong, and still has good light intensity, even after three years. We often say that the film can be seen as an insurance for a good crop; with this film a grower will have the best he can get. The film might be a bit more expensive, but a grower is ensured to have his crop covered with the best material.”
Other products by Excalibur are MultiSolar; a premium greenhouse poly designed to control light intensity by diffusing and MultiEVA; a premium poly designed to optimize plant vigour while providing growers maximum heat retention. Their films are all analyzed by a laboratory in Italy.
For more information:
Excalibur Plastics
David Boutros (e-mail)
www.excaliburplastics.com