th
7 annual edition, spring 2015
19
Foreword The first quarter is past once again, and we can conclude nothing else than that we live in a very dynamic world with our strong international scope. The strong foreign exchange fluctuations are an additional factor to take into account. The rouble, the US dollar and the Swiss franc are just some examples, but if you are active on a broad international front, these challenges are always there. The currency fluctuations have to be anticipated of course. Luckily we are an extremely flexible organisation, and for that reason we are able to switch rapidly between the various international markets if, for instance, one of these markets is subject to an unfavourable rate with respect to the euro. The perpetually increasingly innovative projects that we are engaged in are a further example of our
example of our dynamic world. Apart from the special Solar projects and our successful ModulAIR (semi-closed) projects, which are constantly growing in scale, at the end of last year we were also proud to announce that we are going to carry out the Sundrop project in Australia. For those who missed it; we have once again inserted the press release in its entirety in this newsletter. In addition, we have an update on our French operations and we have two nice articles on other projects.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER Foreword Sundrop News summary Did you know that... Komet Pinetops
Happy reading!
Projects in the south of France
Peter Spaans Director
Trade fairs/Open days Job Vacancies
Sundrop
News summary
203,200 m², Turn-key ModulAIR, Port Augusta, Australia, tomatoes The principal sponsoring the state-of-the-art greenhouse is Sundrop Farms, a pioneer in sustainable horticulture for the arid world. Sundrop Farms is a pioneer in sustainable agriculture for the arid world, growing high-value crops using seawater and sunlight. It has the technology and operational skills to develop, construct and operate greenhouses in locations that have little or no access to arable land, fresh water sources, grid electricity or natural gas. The company has created a proprietary food production system which grows high quality produce, all year round, in greenhouses that use the abundant and renewable resources of sunlight and seawater. As the world’s population continues to grow, Sundrop Farms is de-coupling food production from finite resources and relying instead on renewable resources to grow the world’s food industry, not just profitably but also sustainably. The company has offices in London, Dubai and Adelaide.
A Van der Hoeven greenhouse in the ‘Bollenstreek’ (Dutch bulb region) forms the setting for the new Dutch drama series Black Tulip. The all-star cast, with Huub Stapel, Linda van Dyck, Anna Drijver and Benja Breuning in the leading roles, are regularly to be seen in the greenhouse.
The innovative company Sundrop Farms found in Van der Hoeven an equal partner to build the greenhouse. The company is therefore very pleased to build this new Corporate Social Responsibility project in Southern Australia. Construction of the Sundrop project will shortly begin and the first phase is due to be completed in 2015. Do you like to find out more about the Sundrop philosophy? Please click on the image to get more information.
Photography: Pief Weyman
Did you know that… …..we have added a Contact page to our website. Here you will find the contact details per department of many of our staff. . With direct phone line(s), Skype, email addresses and pictures.
Address: J.M. van der Hoeven B.V. PO Box 5115 2600 GC Delft, the Netherlands Visiting Address Vrij-Harnasch 124 2635 BZ Den Hoorn, the Netherlands
Komet
Pinetops
9,920 m², greenhouse, Ljudevita Gaja, Croatia, tomatoes Until recently, Croatia was just a country where Van der Hoeven built a greenhouse from time to time in the long-distant past. However, over the past autumn we have been able to make renewed acquaintance with this beautiful country. The impetus came from a request via Tuprotec consultancy, where an offer was to be made by means of an official Croatian tender for a new greenhouse of at most 10,000 m². A great deal of paperwork was needed as a result of this official tendering procedure in order to deal with this project in a proper way. Ultimately, all went well, thanks to extra efforts by the consultant, our client the Bilič family and in particular our logistics department. The tomato plants were placed on the mat at the end of last year as scheduled. Here again a great project has been completed in a highly promising region.
20,160m², greenhouse and service area, Lymington, United Kingdom, potted lilies By contrast with Croatia, we are involved in England virtually every year. At the moment, final work is being done to a greenhouse in Lymington, on the southern edge of the New Forest, a magnificent stretch of nature a stone's throw from Southampton. The project consists of a greenhouse of 4.5 metres in height and a service area with a sandwich deck. The scheduling was a bit tight, but thanks to outstanding project management, an experienced construction team and a bit of luck with the weather, construction went ahead last December and January. England will continue to be of interest to Van der Hoeven over the years ahead. With the appropriate knowledge of Health and Safety regulations, plentiful experience with various projects and outstanding project management, Van der Hoeven will continue to be a turn-key supplier of interest to English customers. We are ready for the next challenge.
Trade fairs / Seminars
- GreenTech Summit 9 June 2015, RAI Amsterdam, Netherlands
- PCA 5 to 8 July 2015, Jupiters, Gold Coast, Australia
Personnel changes / job vacancies Joining us: On 1 March, Xander Corveleijn started in the position of Project Designer Electrotechnical installations.
Update on projects in the south of France 27 ha Solar south of France nears completion - and the second phase of 30 ha in the starting blocks At the moment we are busy completing the last of the 12 Solar projects in the south of France. At the same time we are in the starting blocks for the second phase, comprising 10 projects. Once again we are going to build around 30 hectares of new Solar greenhouses. Levelling work for the initial projects is in full swing, and the first foundations are expected to be laid shortly. The new series of projects is also the same, but at the same time completely different. There are of course solar panels on the southern side of the roofs, but there is a lot of variation in the terrain; from steeply sloping land, to jumps with terraces and from rocky ground to greasy clay. In short - a lot of challenges, but nothing which can’t be handled by our experienced crew. Serres des grand Lacs - 94,140 m², Turn-key ModulAIR, Pontenx, France, tomatoes The plants now stand two metres tall and the first tomatoes are harvested on the 10 hectares of Serres des grand Lacs in Pontenx, south-west France. Walking around this greenhouse is an impressive sight. It not only has the aura of an environment controlled down to the last detail; that is what it is in reality. With this high-tech, turn-key ModulAIR project, Van der Hoeven has once again left its calling card behind. Tom d’Aqui – 49,230 m², turn-key ModulAIR, Parentis-en-Born, France, tomatoes A stone's throw away, the third phase of Tom d’Aqui is approaching completion. The climate rooms are being completed at this moment, and the customer is fully engaged with the ground sheet and the tubular rail supports. We are preparing to install the growing gutters, so that planting can take place at short notice. This too is a magnificent ModulAIR greenhouse that all of us together can be proud of!
On 30 April, Nina Wessels started in the position of Logistics Assistant Jr. Job Vacancies: To support our continued growth we are looking for the following candidates: - Autocad Designer - Energy and Climate Designer
Check our website for the job descriptions : www.vanderhoeven.nl
Colophon Text: Photos:
Martin Steentjes Peter Spaans Van der Hoeven archive
(Final) editing: Daphne Kramer Would you like to receive our newsletter too? Subscriptions can be made by calling the number below or through our website www.vanderhoeven.nl. Hoeveninfo is an informative magazine about products and projects of Van der Hoeven Horticultural projects. No rights may be derived from the contents of this newsletter.