Dutch Secretary of State for agriculture informed of sector critical issues

Left to right Roy van der Knaap, Adri Bom Lemstra, Jean Rummenie and Leo de Vries.

Houseplant grower KP Holland in association with industry body Glastuinbouw Nederland, hosted a visit and tour for the Dutch Secretary of State for agriculture, fisheries, food security and nature, Jean Rummenie on 2 December.

KP Holland’s managing director Leo de Vries took Rummenie behind the scenes of what is a 20ha houseplant nursery spread across six different sites in Naaldwijk, De Lier, and Maasland. The Secretary of State toured the company’s headquaters in Naaldwijk where he took a keen interest in the level of tech designed to grow 40 million houseplants per year.

Rummenie heard directly about the vagaries of the energy market, plant health, water and waste management, and the perks and challenges of the labour market.

KP Holland’s Leo de Vries explains the Dutch Secretary of State for agriculture the ins and outs of growing Kalanchoes.

Managing Director KP Holland, De Vries says: “KP Holland was absolutely honoured and felt proud to to have been chosen by the Ministry for the secretary of state’s visit. We explained him and his colleagues what it means to bold and innovative as a company and sector of the economy. A intrinsically motivated company, KP Holland strives to become more sustainable, automated and digitally prepared. It was a pleasure to show what we have achieved so far.”

Adri Bom-Lemstra, chairman of the industry body Glastuinbouw Nederland and one of the chamberlains the Dutch King has in each province, set out the future vision for the Dutch greenhouse industry in connection with labour market. By 2050, she anticipates, labour shortages will be largely solved by autonomous plant cultivation.

During his visit Rummenie gained better insights on how policymakers can best support the industry, knowledge he hopefully wil use in the new European Commission, which took office on 1 December 2024.

Over the past 12 months, KP Holland, has taken the necessary steps toward autonomous cultivation renovating and automating, for example, two production locations. This strategy seamlessly fits the company’s sustainable ambitions to produce the highest achievable quality Kalanchoe, Spathiphyllum and Curcuma in a fully sustainable manner. “Our ambition is to automate processes where we can, but remain flexible where we must,” said Roy van der Knaap, technical director KP Holland. “Ultimately, our people have the final view in plant quality control. Digitization and automation combined with the right technical knowledge makes this process easier.”

Family business KP Holland, founded in 1950, is committed to growing success for growers and trading partners. At six locations, the company develops, propagates and produces plant varieties within the Spathiphyllum, Kalanchoe and Curcuma product groups. Together with national and international growers and trading partners, KP Holland stands for plant excellence, aiming to create an attractive and healthy living environment for consumers.