It's a sad sight, an empty greenhouse, but the cessation of the 'lighted cultivation' is in fact the 'salvation' for his company," says Loek van Adrichem in an article in the NRC. The newspaper mentions the greenhouses of the producer in Steenbergen John Willems from Royal ZON, Ton van Dalen from Oxin Growers, Growers United, supermarkets Albert Heijn and Jumbo, Vereijken Kwekerijen and WUR in the article as well.
In the last few months, Van Adrichem's production costs have risen so much that he has decided to stop growing with lights. "Last year, it cost 60 cents to grow a kilo of tomatoes. Now it's about 80 cents," he says in the interview. Loek speaks of the 'tomato game,' by which he means the race between producers to see who can produce the fastest and most efficiently.
NRC also spoke to Hans van Vereijken Kwekerijen, who may be lighting up his plants this winter. Albert Heijn will pay the grower a premium for Tasty Tom tomatoes this winter, the newspaper says. But how much this will be remains between the supermarket and the producer?