Under Sun Acres is a 48-acre bell pepper production facility. They grow red, orange, and yellow bell peppers and have about 65 employees who rotate throughout the season. Hygiene is extremely important to the facility's functionality.
"If hygiene in the facility is not good, it poses a risk not only to food safety but also to health," says Lucas Semple of Under Sun Acres. "We're dealing with the tomato brown virus that can also affect peppers, diseases like fusarium that spread through the air and is common in this area, and of course, the covid-19 pandemic that has occurred in recent years and is still ongoing. Hygiene helps keep our facility safe. It is important that our employees follow hygiene measures before entering the greenhouse."
A solution from start to finish
"Others in the area who use Royal Brinkman equipment recommended Royal Brinkman to us. We also talked to other companies, but Royal Brinkman was very good at providing a solution from start to finish. It really appealed to us that Royal Brinkman not only sells the machines but also thinks about and helps design the biosecurity room, since the equipment, by itself, is not enough. We're very satisfied with the advice and help from start to finish. As well as the maintenance of the machines, the functionality, and our relationship to this day", says Lucas Semple of Under Sun Acres.
The HortiHygienz compass
To ensure hygiene in the facility, Under Sun Acres asked Royal Brinkman for advice and guidance. The HortiHygienz department's hygiene specialists worked out a customized plan together with Under Sun Acres. Jasper Verhoeven, disinfection and hygiene specialist at Royal Brinkman, explains: "We approach hygiene from a compass with five focus areas: Perfect Crop Rotation, People and Activities, Disease-Free Materials, Optimal Water Quality, and Responsible and Sustainable. Under Sun Acres' request is a great example of People and Activities."
Hygiene at the entrance is important. This keeps pathogens out of the facility and helps prevent the spread. It also sends a clear message to visitors and employees that hygienic measures must be taken. And for customers, it's good for them to see hygiene is a priority and that food is being produced safely.
A complete hygiene street
HortiHygienz pairs the products and equipment needed with the advice and knowledge of specialists. Arie Alblas, mechanical equipment specialist at Royal Brinkman Canada, explains: "Based on the risk analysis and the wishes of Under Sun Acres, a complete hygiene street was advised and designed. In this, visitors and employees must successively wash their hands and disinfect footwear in the hygiene sluice, put on their work clothes in the changing room, soap their hands on a soap unit, wash their hands long and intensively, and then disinfect their hands and feet again in the hygiene sluice before entering the greenhouse. Sensor-equipped locks with turnstiles at various cleaning and disinfection points ensure that the next step cannot be taken until the prescribed action has been performed."