export
‘We are committed to high standards of quality, food safety and sustainability’
Founded in 1971, Mexican vegetable grower Agrícola Zarattini is a family business that produces peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, asparagus and strawberries. Having started out with just 6 ha, nowadays the facility comprises 91 ha of greenhouse crops, with the overwhelming majority of its products being sold for export. With more than 10 years of experience in producing hydroponic vegetables, today this grower sets itself apart with its consistently high-quality produce, including ‘One Sweet’ peppers and the specialty tomatoes Campari and Kumato.
Emmanuel (Manolo) Melchor, head grower at the company, explains the evolution of the company. “We started our greenhouse activities around 15 years ago, and the Zarattini family has been continuously driving expansion ever since. The ambition is to become the best company of our kind in Mexico and the first to be recognised worldwide for quality. We first started out with just 6 ha. Today, we have 91 ha of high-tech greenhouses, employing around 800 people and we are still growing.”
95% export
At the Medio Sitio facility, located close to Silao de la Victoria in the state of Guanajuato, on the central plains of Mexico, the company produces bell peppers in three colours – red, orange and yellow – all year round. Silao is a centre of agricultural and industrial activity, with a large number of production facilities growing a wide variety of crops. The area has a semi-arid climate, with rains in the summer and an average annual temperature of 28°C (with maximum temperatures reaching as high as 34°C in mid-summer and down to 0°C in the winter months).
Mexico’s horticulture sector has been growing steadily over the past couple of decades. The production of greenhouse crops continues to rise at an average rate of over a thousand hectares per year, thanks among other things to the favourable climate and the country’s proximity to the US and Canadian markets. “Like almost all other vegetable producers in Mexico, we export close to 95% of our products to the USA and Canada, with the remaining 5% being sold on the local market,” comments Melchor. The company’s customers include the top 25 food retailers in those countries, such as Walmart and Costco.
Meeting consumer needs
“We are committed to high standards of quality, food safety and sustainability,” he continues. This includes the company providing excellent after-sales services, shouldering its corporate social responsibility, treating its employees, its customers and the environment with respect, and making people feel that they are part of the family.
“Above all, we are focused on meeting the needs of the consumers, the men and women who are looking for the best-quality peppers,” Melchor says. “Our whole organisation is set up to achieve that: we select the pepper seeds ourselves, have our own nursery where we produce seedlings, and then we cultivate, package and market our fresh produce. To reach our goal, we need to have outstanding and productive pepper plants, and also excellent employees.”
The company’s germination facilities include mechanical seeders, trays and other equipment and materials, and the subsequent development of the seedlings is done in a high-tech environment in which the light level, temperature, humidity and nutrients are all carefully monitored and controlled.
“Our greenhouses are also very high-tech, built by our own team under the guidance and supervision of the greenhouse companies. We have close relationships with the likes of Zantingh, Richel, Priva and Hoogendoorn for the automated systems and equipment,” he adds.
Food safety
The company is extremely strongly committed to food safety and has food safety policies in place throughout all areas of the company: seedling production, greenhouse activities and the packaging department. To support its sales to retail customers, Agrícola Zarattini works with a system based on international food safety standards, and its greenhouses are certified under the SQF and PrimusGFS international audit schemes in addition to being recognised by the Mexican National Service for Agro-Alimentary Public Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) programme.
“This focus on food safety is one of the reasons that we use a microorganism-based approach in our soil management. In the past, we had problems with root diseases. The technical team first brought the Bactiva method to our attention around ten years ago and we have been using this solution for our pepper production ever since,” says Melchor. “We use it from the moment of planting, and then we apply it every month at a dose of one kilogram per hectare. We source it through our contact Raul Ulises Andrade Ruiz and his company, which is based in Celaya here in the state of Guanajuato. The supplier’s representatives help us to make evaluations of the product and they visit us once a month to analyse the product and evaluate the presence of microorganisms.”
Beneficial organisms
The solution is developed and supplied by an alliance of companies in Europe and North America focused on the treatment of roots with microorganisms that boost plant growth. Soil harbours many bacteria and fungi that benefit plants. They form a long-term relationship with the roots and the surrounding rhizosphere. The application of soilborne microorganisms makes it possible to optimise the supply of water and nutrients for the greenhouse plants.
“This natural way of strengthening plant health and resistance is a good fit with our commitment to sustainability. We have tried many other biological products in the past, but we believe we have found the best solution in Bactiva thanks to its high concentration of beneficial organisms. This product has really helped us to improve the health of our crops, especially peppers. We’ve also been able to reduce our use of agrochemicals and achieve better yields at the end of our production seasons,” he explains.
Future outlook
At Agrícola Zarattini they still see plenty of potential to build on the success of this natural approach. “In the future we want to make greater use of biological control, for both diseases and pests,” states Melchor. This will help the vegetable production company to continue on its path towards further international expansion based on quality and food safety, not only in North America, but also increasingly worldwide.
Summary
Based in Mexico, vegetable production company Agrícola Zarattini grows peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, asparagus and strawberries, predominantly for export markets. The company sets itself apart through high standards of quality, and has bold ambitions: to achieve international recognition as the best company of its kind in Mexico. Sustainability and food safety are key pillars of the company’s success. The use of soilborne microorganisms to tackle root disease in its pepper crops is a good example of its biological approach to optimising crop health, quality and yield.
Text: Lynn Radford. Images: Agrícola Zarattini.
Related
‘Bring in the Dutch’
I am convinced that after all the developments that have taken place from soil to substrate; volume-orientated to customer orientated; from unlit to artificial lighting; from small to large scale; and from large scale to professionalism, the time has now come for internationalisation of the Dutch greenhouse horticulture. That goes for cultivation, trade and suppliers but then in a different way to how it is done now.
We as the Dutch greenhouse sector can no longer continue to simply place greenhouses elsewhere the world and then say: ‘Here is your turn-key project, good luck.’ The Dutch horticultural sector has a mega chance to extend our position in the world, providing we are prepared to work together and together work with (potential) investors, governments and growers abroad to help them make the right decisions. And when those choices are made, we need to help with the transfer of knowledge needed to make these projects profitable. We also need to help over the long term with their further development.
We have already done this at two places. In both cases we have a stake in the companies in exchange for our knowledge input over the long term. The benefit to our partners is that they are assured of our knowledge input and continuity. Our benefit is that we can further develop in other markets much faster, enabling us to become a stronger and better partner for our customers. We also remain an attractive employer for upcoming talent and it makes our business even more enjoyable.
There should be an advantage to the sector if we as Dutch companies are part of what is happening worldwide. By only providing knowledge we increasingly sideline ourselves. It simply doesn’t work well enough at the moment because, to be sure here and there steps are being made, we still don’t get across the complete story well enough. It’s not without reason that I spend a lot of time motivating companies in all areas of the horticultural sector in order to make a strong chain from a large number of loose links. It’s only then that people with large horticultural problems abroad, similar to those with water management issues, will shout ' Bring in the Dutch'.
Frank van Kleef
Tomato grower and member of Harvest House
Alumat Zeeman’s Green Boys Network
‘Of course we export. Out of all the greenhouses in the world, you can be assured that 80 per cent have their origins in the Netherlands and that we are involved in a large number of these.’ Greenhow is interviewing Bert Strikkers, co-director of Alumat Zeeman.
Bert was recently appointed to the managing board in order to boost Alumat Zeeman’s export figures. ‘We have noted that the agriculture and horticulture industries have been undergoing increasing international development. It is our ambition be among the top three global players in the field of parts and systems for greenhouses within the next five years.’
‘Our strength lies in our ability to turn our hand at pretty much everything. We produce primarily smaller series, tailored entirely to the end customer’s requirements.’
The appointment of Bert Strikkers to the management board will enable his co-director, Hans Zeeman (currently the third generation Zeeman at the helm) to concentrate more on the production facilities. Various greenhouse parts, up to and including complete systems for greenhouse screens and air control systems, are produced according to custom specifications at the company’s state-of-the-art factory. ‘Our strength lies in our ability to turn our hand at pretty much everything. We produce primarily smaller series, tailored entirely to the end customer’s requirements.’
Strategy
‘When it comes to sales, you can choose largely between two strategies: you can either become a supplier to greenhouse builders in the Westland region or you can focus more narrowly on supplying the installers and customers at the end of the chain. ‘In the former case, you have to be an absolute cost leader with as little overhead as possible or, in other words, produce things as cheaply as possible. There’s nothing wrong with this strategy, but our strength clearly lies in the delivery of added value by offering our international customers precisely the right quality, service and expertise,’ explains Strikkers. ‘This means that we to keep abreast of all international horticulture projects.’
How can you do that as a small organisation?‘
To be able to answer this question, we will first have to examine the international role played by the horticulture industry in the Westland region. Nowhere in the world is there such a dense concentration of horticulture business, as well as suppliers specialised in this industry. Not only we know this; the rest of the world is also aware of it. A new greenhouse is a huge investment to which the owner is bound for at least the next fifteen years to come.
‘Because of the scope of the investment and the image of the Westland region chances are big that a prospective investor will approach one of the horticulture firms here for information first. Some foreign companies even spend an entire week here to visit several suppliers on order to gain a better impression of the latest technical developments. This is possible thanks to the dense geographical concentration of horticulture firms here; you will find everything there is to know in the field of horticulture technology within a fifty-kilometre radius.’
Network
‘Most people are simply not aware of the magnitude of an investment in greenhouse horticulture; all they see is the glass exterior. Half the costs, however, are associated with the many systems needed for the optimum cultivation of your crops. This means that to build a single greenhouse you may have to request, either directly or indirectly, hundreds of quotations for each of the various parts and systems. A large portion of these quotations are directed at companies operating in the Westland region and, through our network, we always get the latest scoop on what’s going on. We are often introduced to clients as well: if a client has a specific request and the relevant supplier can’t meet this demand, the supplier will generally refer him to someone else - which is often us. Of course, we do the same. However, although we consider the sky to be the limit, we prefer to stick to only those areas in which we excel.’
‘End customers are ordering their systems directly more and more often, simply because they understand that every intermediary link raises the price.’
Strikkers continues: ‘We would rather make a customer happy by referring him to another party than straining to act as an intermediary. This is a clear a trend emerging in the international business world. ‘End customers are ordering their systems directly more and more often, simply because they understand that every intermediary link raises the price. This is a favourable development for us, particularly for the parts division.’
Confidence
‘Of course, our network extends far beyond the Westland region alone. We visit many trade fairs all over the world every year. Although we don’t have our own stand at these fairs, we are very well acquainted with our Dutch colleagues. Believe me, if an Israeli customer wants to build a greenhouse, he will undoubtedly end up at the Dutch pavilion and we will learn about it through our network.
‘To get back to your question about how we conduct our export business: our export strategy consists in part of making optimum use of the image the rest of the world has of the Westland region and by deploying all of our contacts both here and in the rest of the world. After all, having a business that has never once gone bankrupt since it was founded in1928 puts us in a privileged position. That may not sound all that impressive, but in the small world that is the horticulture industry that means that in all of 85 years we have never disappointed a customer with a project that was not completed or a supplier with an unpaid bill. This gives us confidence.’
‘Command of the English language is particularly poor in France and Spain. If you’re able to approach a customer in his own language you are at a considerable advantage.’
‘Speaking of confidence, everyone in the Netherlands likes to talk about giving and taking. Nevertheless, in the world of international sales the focus more on giving and receiving. Being in the position of the seller, it’s never a question of taking anything from your customer. You have to have confidence in the expectation that your customer will be willing to give you something, that you will be granted an order. Bert, for example, speaks five languages, which is indispensable if you want to build up a good business relationship with a foreign customer. Command of the English language is particularly poor in France and Spain. If you’re able to approach a customer in his own language you are at a considerable advantage on the competition.
‘In summary, our strategy to enter into commercial negotiations has brought us a lot of success in the horticulture niche. With regard to our products, we aim to maintain our focus on flexibility and custom work, while experimenting with new methods and technologies. Our primary aim in this is to automate the process to the greatest extent possible.’ The company clearly employs a two-pronged policy.
Has this always been the case at Alumat Zeeman?
‘No, not at all,’ Hans Zeeman confirms with a grin. ‘The company was actually founded purely by accident. My grandfather was a fisherman and he came home after three months at sea to discover that his son had been born while he was away. He was so upset that he had been absent during the birth that he immediately sought work on land. He started a maintenance firm for greenhouses and, because he was sometimes unable to work because it was either too cold or too hot, his activities gradually shifted to the sale and production of parts. After all, when you work in a big warehouse, you aren’t bothered as much by weather conditions. That was the start of our company.’
Do you have any concluding remarks?
‘Certainly! I’d love to plug our latest innovation. Besides market development, we are also engaged in product development. Based on our expertise in greenhouse screens we recently developed an automatic anti-hail net that can be used by tree nurseries, for example. The net can be opened and closed by remote - through a simple SMS - to enable the grower to effortlessly activate the system. Of course, hail isn’t a regular occurrence in the Netherlands, but in Italy and Germany it is a serious problem. This means that this product will generate lots of export opportunities. Another advantage to this system is the micro-climate that is created underneath the net, which slightly raises the temperature. This can prevent frost damage to young plants, which will also grow better and faster on account of the net.’
With thanks to: Exportmagazine.nl.
‘I’m not such a big fan of spreadsheets.’
‘Internationalisation is crucial to us’, explains Meiny Prins, CEO and co-owner of Priva, and Businesswoman of the Year 2009.
‘Priva is a family-owned and operated company that supplies climate control products and services. We serve two markets: the built-up environment and production horticulture. We offer measuring and control equipment that will enable its users to achieve the highest possible returns with the least amount of energy possible, and while using the greatest amount of recycled water possible. Our knowledge in the field of horticulture is based on two components: our expertise in the field of measuring and regulation, on the one hand, and our knowledge of plants, on the other. We know precisely what each plant needs and are able to coordinate our parameters to these requirements. This is also the difference between the two markets. There are a lot of variables in greenhouse horticulture, but a greenhouse is also a kind of intensive care unit. If something goes wrong, all the plants in it could die within an hour. This process is not as critical when it comes to buildings; we usually don’t complain unless it’s too hot.
'To keep a leading edge with regard to technology, over 150 of our 450 employees focus on product development, which is an aspect in which we invest a quarter of our revenue.'
‘Our exporting activities are also crucial. To keep a leading edge with regard to technology, over 150 of our 450 employees focus on product development, which is an aspect in which we invest a quarter of our revenue. The Dutch market is too small to bear these costs, let alone the risks of a possible crisis on the market. A workable distribution of risks is, in any case, important. We have to offer our employees a solid foundation. It takes three years to train a salesperson to be sufficiently knowledgeable with regard to our technology, for example. Training a service engineer takes five years, and the training programme for a project engineer takes a full decade to complete. When you invest as heavily as this in people, you can’t suddenly cut costs and then decide to expand immediately after. We sell our products for the horticulture industry in over 100 countries, we have 10 branch offices and supply our products to 140 specialised installation professionals worldwide. Our dedicated consultancy services, however, are still offered only from our head office in De Lier.'
‘As I mentioned previously, our exporting activities were relatively easy to get off the ground, as we are active within two sectors in the horticultural industry. It comes down to simply travelling along with your customers. In the course of time, Dutch growers have been relocating to all corners of the globe. I could even go so far as to say that every greenhouse horticulture project launched today, no matter where in the world, has a Dutch person or firm somehow connected to it. Growers become used to working with specific equipment when they were still in the Netherlands, and want to continue using it at their new location.'
‘The situation is entirely different in the building and construction industry. In this case, we moved from country to country, conquering our niche in the market as we went along. The first country we established a new branch in was Germany. This was not the easiest place to begin, as it was also the home base of many of our competitors in the building management system sector. It may not have been the best choice at the time. We currently have ten offices in such countries as Canada, the UK, Belgium and China.'
'Our new strategy focuses more on “verticals”, specific groups of customers.'
‘We are, however, planning to adjust our strategy, because this approach simply takes too long. It takes five to seven years for a newly established branch to start generating a steady profit. This procedure is too expensive, and too slow for building up a global network. Our new strategy focuses more on “verticals”, specific groups of customers, with scalable solutions that we can develop for specific segments and can subsequently roll out on a global scale. Examples include climate control in supermarkets, or operation rooms.’
Many business enterprises with a focus on exporting activities employ stringent selection criteria from the very start. All applications that do not immediately fall within a specific niche are not followed up on. What is Priva’s strategy in this?
‘Of course, we will look into the application, and do follow up on practically every lead except for in specific cases. What is an important point for consideration is that we are the absolute market leader in our segment. What we want to prevent under all circumstances is getting the reputation of being slow - or, even worse, arrogant.’
Are you personally still active in the market?
‘Certainly! My portfolio within our three-headed management team is commerce. I undertake a long journey twice a year, during which I concentrate on business development, in addition to customer relations management. My position as a CEO opens quite a few doors, and gives me opportunities to set my foot on hitherto unpaved roads. What I specifically aim to do, is to launch pilots in collaboration with businesses that play an exemplary role in the market. By using our equipment and accurately calculating the results and, above all, communicating clearly, we are able to convince other companies of the advantages of our technology much faster.'
You are unlike many other CEOs because you are actively engaged in marketing your firm’s products. Many companies these days are led by spreadsheet experts, and not by people who still play an active role in the market. What’s your opinion of this?
‘I’m not such a big fan of spreadsheets. If you start making calculations, you have to use them sooner or later and most often that will mean cutting costs. After that, it takes about a year to straighten out the consequential damage. What’s more important is that, if I were to start working that way, the rest of my business would be prone to following my example. Before you know it, everything will be directed at internal operations, and that’s not what I want at all. I - and the same goes for the rest of my company - prefer to direct my energy outwards.’
'“Adding value” is our motto, and if I succeed in doing this for another decade, I’m satisfied and will take it from there.'
Meiny Prins is a fervent supporter of the circular economy. She launched the ‘Sustainable Urban Delta’ initiative, a string of pearls in the field of water, food, energy and knowledge.
Is this a personal hobby, or does this tie in with your company somewhere?
‘Sustainability is never a mere hobby; it is a significant theme that deserves the same status as quality. I firmly believe that whoever can offer integrated solutions will have a leading edge on the competition. And that it is important to have a vision for the future. More and more people are drawn to living in a cosmopolitan environment, to urbanisation. This means that the waste water produced by these people will have to be used for the production of food. Waste derived from food will, in turn, be used as biofuel, and residual heat derived from greenhouses to warm residential areas. All of these systems will be scaled downwards, and inter-coordinated. As control is our business, we’re already engaged in developing the next generation of control equipment, in which we don’t take only the greenhouse or building into consideration, but also look into how we can coordinate our system to the processes going on in the direct environment.’
You are the co-owner of a successful business. What are your plans for Priva in the next 50 years?
‘I can’t think that far ahead! My motivation stems from the ability to provide added value. Following in the footsteps of my father, money is not a goal onto itself. Every euro is reinvested in the company. “Adding value” is our motto, and if I succeed in doing this for another decade, I’m satisfied and will take it from there.'
‘It’s not without a reason that I say a decade: these days innovations come and go at such a rapid pace and have such a gigantic impact that added value is the key to survival. Even stronger, everything that is not capable of contributing some sort of added value is disappearing or will be disappearing. This shift is more far-reaching and faster than gradual technical developments. In our niche of the business, we are already referring to what we call “disruptive innovations”, and “game-changing inventions”.'
'It is far better to develop your own Uber Taxi and retain control over it than to relinquish it to the competition.’
‘Within Priva we have already developed all the knowledge we need to cannibalise our own products. If we were to introduce our new concepts on the market, our own sales figures would drop by half. But that’s not what it’s all about; you can also think in terms of possibilities. By considering new markets to tap into, for example. Of course, you don’t really have a choice: if you don’t jump on an initiative, someone else will. It is far better to develop your own Uber Taxi and retain control over it than to relinquish it to the competition.’
This interview was made possible by Tuinbouwvertalingen.nl. Photo: Priva.