“We are unique as we not only grow the tomatoes but package and sell them as well, which is very unusual in our sector,“ says Dutch greenhouse grower RedStar CFO Peter Kalden. “That gives us a significant advantage as we can be much more flexible about our client’s requirements.”
The company’s objective is to supply its customers all year round with pure and fresh tomatoes of consistently high quality. This may seem simple enough, but in a recently conducted interview, RedStar CFO Peter Kalden admits that the challenges of last year were phenomenal Not only were the growers affected by the tomato brown rugose fruit virus, but the energy crisis also hit them hard.
“Skyrocketing energy prices affect decisions on whether to grow within winter, hugely impacting partnerships with clients. Still, I believe we have steered through this storm quite well. We have invested in more LED lights in our greenhouses, and for the most part, we have been able to meet our key customers’ requirements.”
Another serious challenge, the labour shortage in the European market, has been addressed by investing in robotisation, he explains. In March this year, RedStar announced a multi-year agreement with MetoMotion, a manufacturer of a multipurpose robotic system to perform labour-intensive tasks in greenhouses, for the purchase of its multiple MetoMotion’s Greenhouse Robotics Worker (GRoW).
RedStar started harvesting with the GRoW robot in 2022 and is now scaling its usage with the purchase of more robots. “The plan is to reach full commercial site usage by the end of 2023, a major step as we move towards sustainable growing.”
Different from the rest
Read more at businessfocusmagazine.com