Smart Growing becomes a fixed component of international greenhouse sales

KUBO is conducting more and more projects for clients who do not have much horticulture experience. However, the investment in a professional greenhouse - quite often an Ultra-Clima - demands far-reaching growing knowledge. As this is not necessarily available in faraway countries as it is in our own Westland, KUBO also offers specialised expertise in the form of Smart Growing.

‘Smart Growing forms a bridge between inexperienced investors and professional greenhouse horticulture’, Denny Threels summarised the essence of the KUBO concept. As Greenhouse Operations Expert he is connected with Smart Growing. ‘Imagine that a grower somewhere in the world is looking for a supplier of plants or a seed company. We have a database containing all this information. Not only with supplier addresses, but also the type of crop or seed that is most suitable for the market. And we also have connections on site that can help us. We also help with growing knowledge, matters related to labour technology or with the business side.’

Growers across the world can use Smart Growing to access on-site growing supervision. For instance, a growing manager will be working in Russia on behalf of KUBO for two years. If on-site supervision is not directly needed, crop consultancy offers many advantages: it is a service in which the project is visited a few times per month and growers can pose questions in the interim using modern communication tools.

Smart Growing also offers access to more specialised expertise. Denny: “We employ our own plant scientist, someone who knows everything about the crop, and a greenhouse technology specialist. If a grower is uncertain as to whether its energy consumption is realistic, we know exactly how to calculate this.’

Delivering a ’blueprint’ on how to run the company is an option. Such a blueprint is a complete manual that takes entrepreneurs through the entire operations, from quality management and work descriptions to registrations. It is also a good step towards GLOBAL G.A.P. certification, for instance.

The supervision via Smart Growing already starts before the signatures have been placed on the contract with a feasibility study that ascertains whether it is wise to realise a horticulture project on that site and what energy consumption a grower can expect.