The year in screens; from Australia to Mexico

De Jonge: "2015 started well for us. Through KUBO we were at work in Australia. And through Bosman we were installing in the sandbox of Qatar.” With Anthura Germany, Westcoast Canada, Wholesum Farms USA, Tomczyk Poland (through Olsthoorn) and Scherzer Gemüse, among others, the company was active worldwide. “The Netherlands obviously remains a very important country for us. With projects such as Holstein Flowers, Floricultura and Sluijter Opheusden we had enough to do in our own country. "

The second quarter brought the PDI men to Mexico, phase one of Driscoll's. 28 hectares were installed. Projects in Russia, Kazakhstan and Italy were also on the schedule in this period. Closer to home there were the large construction projects of Arcadia Chrysanten, Gipmans Planten, Kenis Aardbeien and Van Geel Orchid.

Take it easy after the summer? Of this there was no question: The third quarter was the beginning of a very busy period. "With Greenco Tomaten, Tas Paprika, Steiner Gemüsebau and Berg Lisianthus among others we had to ensure that we weren’t going to be short of equipment," says De Jonge. This comes with this time of year: "The third quarter is normally the time for cloth renovations and second installations. There was also plenty of mileage on pipe rail trolleys with Kwekerij Slaman, v.d. Berg, v.d. Meijs and Kwekerij Voorhof again."

The last quarter is always about finishing projects then under construction before the end of the year, and that enough is sold again to start the next year well. "With triple installations at Optiflor, Kwekerij Vijverberg and Mirabel in Canada our engineers had to work hard. They delivered top performances. In Germany they also drove from one address to another doing renovations, new construction projects, facade screens etc."

All in all a lot of cloth was "slipped in" in 2015. This system was introduced by PDI 10 years ago. De Jonge: "In 2015 it is impossible to imagine modern horticulture without it. We came to a total of 98 hectares this year. We have to be honest, we didn’t make 100 ha. But more than 950 hectares have been installed since PDI started ten years ago. That is something we are and will continue to be proud of."

For 2016, the company already has some nice projects planned: Phase 2 of VGT (30 hectares screen system) and with KUBO a 8.5 hectare greenhouse in Canada will be fitted with a double screen. "Basically, the start of PDI’s new year is looking good," De Jonge concludes.