Germany: 5ha-greenhouse inaugurated in Zeil am Main

On June 7, it was time for a grand opening of the new project Gartenbaubetrieb A&S Knaup. The event had a great attendance, with over 400 people attending the opening, which was well catered for by local parties, to see this modern greenhouse. Family, friends, business relations, and (former) employees, among others, attended this special day.

After several years of good preparations, the Knaup family was finally able to show this beautiful project to the outside world. Mr. Knaup: "We started making beautiful new plans several years ago. We overcame setbacks, and the result is great!". Owner Andreas Knaup and daughter Sina works together with brothers and more family members.

In 2016, daughter Sina decided to join the company. Sina: "My father told me that our current business was too old to make money for the next 30 years. I decided to go to school and joined my father in looking for a piece of land for a new business". In 2017 Sina started her dual education in Freising (Hochschule Weihenstephan Triesdorf), and the search for land started. In 2019, they found an area of an old sugar factory, and plans went forward to start construction on May 6, 2021. In September, we continued with the interior design of the greenhouse. Sina: "With the set-up of the greenhouse, we had many setbacks. For example, with the delivery of the cultivation containers. We had to downsize a lot. After the first appointment with HAWE, we were happy to finish where we left off. Raymond, a well-known supervisor, and Rob, as a programmer with a lot of technical knowledge, were with us for low days. We would like to thank HAWE very much for the pleasant cooperation and the personal level".

The greenhouse, located in Zeil am Main, Germany, was built for the cultivation of various potted plants.

The more than 5 ha greenhouse and processing area are equipped with a high-tech mobile container system with an Ebb & Flow system from HAWE. The mobile container system includes 3500 container tables, five pot/back robots, an automatic container washer, and two container cranes. These cranes are designed to cope with the high capacities during the production season. Furthermore, the greenhouse is equipped with a fully automated cultivation system with a manual picking zone. All HAWE systems are controlled by SDF Horti Software.

In addition, the company also has new offices with a social wing and several staff flats.