May 2016 in retrospect
Iran open for greenhouses
In this month Rabobank's Cor Hendriks explained us that the crisis in Dutch horticulture was far from over. "Looking at the overall Dutch acreage with fruit vegetable crops, 3,600 hectares, and the life span of a greenhouse, 15-20 years, a minimum of 200 hectares of greenhouses should be built annually in order to maintain modernity of the horticultural sector in general. The construction figures seem to be considerable, but innovation is necessary. The criteria haven't been met since 2009," says Hendriks. “Moreover, the current construction activities relate to expansion of acreage. Who wants more volume in today's market?"
More positivtive was the news coming from Mexico, where the greenhouse industry has experienced a significant boost. This was also reason for Mauricio Ricaud to start a new consultancy and development group. After managing and operating Mexican greenhouses for 12 years, Mauricio Ricaud made a career switch and founded his own consultancy agency. Since November 2015 he is operating as the RGH Consulting Group. His group will mainly serve as a solutions provider and developer of business plans as well as creator of turnkey greenhouse projects.
In May 2016, VB Group also announced the signing of a multi-million dollar contract for a greenhouse project in the post-sanction era of Iran.
Another highlight of this month was the article we made with Damian Solomon of MedMen, a full service turnkey management company in the cannabis industry. Carrying years of knowledge from his extensive career in the greenhouse vegetable industry, Damian was challenged by The MedMen to help them design a cultivation system that would set the standard for the legal cannabis industry. "Many people in this industry have no clue what they're doing"