Royal couple visits 'Gotham Greens' and parties with suppliers

After their state visit to Canada, the Dutch King and Queen travelled down to Chicago. There, they went to see the largest 'rooftop greenhouse' project in North America. During the visit, the horticultural suppliers mixed up with another Dutch export project: the dance music.

Royal couple's visit to Chicago
After a three-day tour of Canada, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima paid an official visit to the city of Chicago on 2-3 June 2015. Their visit celebrated the strong economic ties between the Netherlands and Illinois. It also provided an opportunity to exchange ideas on science, health and agriculture. Their trip to Chicago was part of a three-day visit to the United States.

Largest rooftop greenhouse
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima began the third day of their visit by witnessing ground-breaking innovations in healthcare at two of Chicago's foremost medical institutes. The royal couple then went on to visit Gotham Greens' newest rooftop greenhouse, located in South Chicago's Pullman District. Covering over 15,000 sq ft, the facility is currently the largest rooftop greenhouse in the world. Gotham Greens, a New York-based company, is a global pioneer in the field of urban agriculture for fresh vegetable production. This urban, high-tech horticulture allows organic produce to be grown close to the consumer.

Innovation in greenhouse technology
Joep van den Bosch, CEO of HortiMaX, was present during the royal visit to Gotham Greens: "Urban rooftop greenhouses differ in many ways from the traditional greenhouses in the Netherlands. What they have in common, however, is that the available space is limited and expensive. The innovative and customized technology provided by HortiMaX allows growers to make the best possible use of their production area. The royal couple was visibly impressed." "Rijk Zwaan, Koppert and HortiMaX, all three Dutch companies, were the main suppliers of technology for the project. Rijk Zwaan supplied the seeds and Koppert supplied the biological pesticides. HortiMaX provided all the climate control technology, user interface software and irrigation and fertigation equipment. All the technology for this special greenhouse was completely custom-built."

By visiting the project, the royal couple were again shown a prime example of Dutch innovation – technology that the world can learn a lot from.

But there's more than just horticultural products being exported from the Netherlands. The Dutch DJs are well-known in dance-music. That's how it can happen that the suppliers who took part in this trip, not only took selfies in their greenhouses with the king and queen, but also with some famous DJs. Even the King mixed some music. Do you recognise Sunnery James?

Part of the trip to the US are the following companies from the horticultural industry: 4 Evergreen, Admesy, Agro Business Solutions, Agrolux Europe, Certhon, Dalsem Complete Greenhouse Projects, LIOF, GreenTech / Amsterdam RAI, Havecon Projects, InnovationQuarter, KUBO Greenhouse Projects, LeQuest, Luiten Greenhouses, MECAL/Mezzanine, Monsanto NL, Special Light Products, Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade, Peter Dekker Installaties, Philips Horti LED Solutions, PlantLab, Ridder/HortiMaX, Scelta Mushrooms, Topsector Agri&Food / Rabobank, Topsector Horticulture and Starting Materials, VB Group, Vitro plus en Wageningen UR/Plant Sciences Group.