Courtesy meeting new Vietnamese ambassador in The Netherlands

Monday 24th of August, the Dutch members of the platform including Kenlog were invited by the Vietnamese Embassy for a courtesy meeting with the new ambassador Mr. Pham Viet Anh. The members had the opportunity to introduce their companies and to inform the new ambassador about the platform. In the meeting they discussed how to continue and strengthen their cooperation in order to bring the Vietnamese horticultural sector to the next level. What is the need of the Vietnamese horticultural sector and how could the platform contribute to this.

Visit of Agricultural Counsellor Malaysia in The Netherlands

Wednesday, August 19, Verbos and Kenlog provided the Agricultural Counsellor of Malaysia in the Netherlands Mr. Muhamed Salim Mohd Ali and his colleagues Mrs. Fariha Binti Edrous and Mr. René van der Laan more insight into the Dutch horticultural sector with a visit to the World Horti Center. They also discussed the project with KF Farm in Johor Bahru in Malaysia which is implemented by a consortium consisting of Luiten Greenhouses, DATT, Rijk Zwaan, Van der Knaap Group, Verbos and Kenlog. Currently, the team is conducting a feasibility study for protected cultivation of tomatoes and chilies in tropical lowlands. The expectation is to start building the first greenhouses early next year.

Urban Farming Partners Singapore Awarded Funding To Build State-Of-The -Art Dutch Technology Indoor Farm in Singapore

SINGAPORE, June 4, 2020 –  Urban Farming Partners Singapore (UFPSG), a unique partnership between Singapore and the Netherlands, has been awarded  funding support by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) under the Agriculture Productivity Fund (APF), enabling the urban farming initiative to take the next step towards strengthening Singapore’s food supply chain and paving the way to food security.

 With Singapore’s ambition to produce enough food locally to meet 30% of the country’s nutritional needs by 2030, the Republic’s strategies towards achieving long-term food security is more urgent than ever. As a total solution provider for urban farms, integrating proven patented technologies and expert-backed worldwide operations, UFPSG’s vision is to contribute considerably to food security in Singapore, as well as Asia.

“We started our journey since 2017 when we presented our grand vision for food sustainability and food security in and around cities globally at the World City Summit in Singapore,” said Wouter Vos, director and founder of the UrbanFarmingPartners Holding in the Netherlands and he has since taken steps to actualize this vision together with Henk van Eijk, his fellow director. This year, UFPSG will initiate construction of a $3m state-of-the-art indoor farm in Singapore, which will be partially funded by SFA. It will be located inside the premises of HSL Waterfront@Penjuru at 42D Penjuru Road in Singapore, where all types of lettuce, baby leaves, herbs as well as other crops like spring onion and fennel will be produced in a fully-controlled indoor growing environment. This indoor urban farm is a first in Singapore that utilises Dutch technology.

“’Local for Local’ and ‘The Circular Economy’ are no longer just buzzwords. The COVID-19 pandemic makes it even more apparent that we need to restructure our critical systems globally more than ever. It is time to make a notable difference with our way of life with food,” said Grace Lim, UFPSG’s Director and project representative in Singapore.

This farm can potentially produce 33 Tonnes of healthy and fresh, ready-to-eat produce for the Singapore market. Circular processes like the harvest of rainwater and solar power are examples of sustainable proven technologies that will be included in the overall design of the urban farm.

Above: Artist’s impressions of the urban farm at HSL Waterfront@Penjuru

“We are glad to see strategic collaborations between our local agri-food industry and their overseas counterparts, as this results in the transfer of innovative and productive technology to Singapore,” said Mr Melvin Chow, Senior Director of SFA’s Food Supply Resilience Division. “Harnessing technology to grow more within our constraints will need to be the new norm for our agri-food industry as we strive towards ’30 by 30’. We will continue to support farms that are keen to develop technological capabilities.”

About Urban Farming Partners Singapore (UFPSG)

Urban Farming Partners Singapore (UFPSG) is a unique cooperation between Singapore and the Netherlands providing a holistic solution in the indoor farming industry integrating proven patented technologies and expert-backed worldwide operations.

For more information, please contact:

Singapore

Grace Lim – Director, Urban Farming Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd.

gracelim@urbanfarmingpartners.com +65 97887996

The Netherlands

Mirjam Boekestijn – Management Assistant Urban Farming Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd.

mirjamboekestijn@urbanfarmingpartners.com, +31 6 25276071

 https://www.urbanfarmingpartners.com

Great kick-off feasibility study KF Farm in Johor Bahu, Malaysia

Tuesday 9th of March, the project ‘Feasibility study – A Sustainable Demonstration Farm in Tropical Lowlands Johor Bahru, Malaysia’ was successfully started together with our Malaysian client KF Farm and our project members – Dutch Enterprise Agency (Mr. Frans Kortekaas), Dutch Embassy in Malaysia (Liu Huan Hoh), Luiten Greenhouses (Nico Luiten), Greenhouse Solutions Asia (Shawn Wong), Verbos Business Development (Aart van den Bos) and Kenlog (Mirjam Boekestijn). The project aims to prove the technical, commercial and financial feasibility of growing vegetables in a sustainable and commercial way in a greenhouse in tropical lowlands.

The farm in Kota Tingi was visited as well as the other business activities of KF Farm (farmers market, convenience stores and wholesale) in order to get insight in the current business activities and the way of operating. Besides, workshops were held in order to clearly determine the starting points of the study as well as to collect a large part of the data needed for the study. Moreover, a visit was paid to the tomato greenhouse setup of Agri Solutions Asia (A.S.A.) in Thailand which shows the opportunities of growing tomatoes in tropical lowlands; a new greenhouse site was visited to gain insight in the process of building a greenhouse.

 

Bring The Vietnamese Horticultural Sector To The Next Level – The Dream Of Vietnamese And Dutch Members Of The Netherlands Vietnam Horti Business Platform

On Tuesday 23 July in Hanoi, a fruitful and successful kick-off round the table meeting took place for potential Vietnamese companies, institutes and governmental organisations active in the horticultural sector by The Netherlands Vietnam Horti Business Platform and its partner the Crop Production Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. A long term vision and cooperation with the platform as a business tool is needed to let the dream come true -Bring the Vietnamese Horticultural Sector to the next level. The attendees expressed their enthusiasm and intention to contribute to this ambition.

The platform, a legally registered cooperative, which connects Vietnamese and Dutch companies and institutes in the horticultural sector in order to stimulate long-term working relationships in this industry between the two countries. Through introducing smart farming technologies and sharing of knowledge and expertise covering all aspect of the value chain – from seed to consumer- the members work together on sustainable, high-quality and efficient fresh production of fruit, vegetables, herbs, flowers and plants.

The meeting was attended by a diverse group of more than 20 Vietnamese companies, institutes and governmental organisations (MARD and Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency) representing the Vietnamese horticultural value chain and the Dutch platform members – Kenlog, Van der Valk Systems, Gakon and Ridder Group.

The meeting was opened by speeches of Mr. Nguyen Nhu Cuong – General Director Department of Crop Production Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Willem Schoustra – Dutch Counsellor for Agriculture in Vietnam and. Mr. Henk van Eijk – Chairman of the Netherlands Vietnam Horti Business Platform. The reasons for setting up the platform- the strong bilateral trade relations between Vietnam and the Netherlands, the strong growth and high potential of the Vietnamese horticulture sector and the strong position of the Dutch horticulture industry were emphasised in these speeches.

After the speeches a presentation in which information about the platform and the meaning of being member was given in order to give the potential Vietnamese members a detailed insight into the Horti Business Platform. Followed by an interactive discussion about the opinion and needs of the attendees.

The Horti Business platform aims to organise a meeting for potential Vietnamese companies, institutes and governmental organisations in Da Lat as well as in Ho Chi Minh City later this year. If you are interested, please contact us.

For more information:

Ms. Mai Hong – Coordinator Vietnam

info@nvhortiplatform.com

+84 90 341 6983

Ms. Mirjam Boekestijn – Coordinator the Netherlands

info@nvhortiplatform.com

+31 6 25 27 60 71

www.nvhortiplatform.com

Redesign Sustainable Farming in the Johor Ecosystem

The organic KF Farm in Johor Bharu, Malaysia has been identified by the Dutch government’s acting economic and agricultural representation in the ASEAN region as a potential benchmark and example project for organically grown vegetables and fruit by using Dutch smart farming techniques, practices and technologies.

KF Farm is established with the aim to deliver healthy, quality organic vegetables, using organic/sustainable methods, which are affordable to the community and to make organic farming more viable in order to influence farmers to practice the same and contribute to the community. KF farm is owned by KF Wholesale Sdn Bhd (KF) which is one of the leading suppliers of premium quality vegetables for Johor Bahru’s food service & retail industry having its operation outlet in Suppliers’ Mart (S’MART) Johor Bahru. S’MART is the first privatized cash ‘n’ carry farmers’ market in Malaysia since year 1999 and has the same management as KF Wholesale.

Last week, Aart van den Bos (Verbos) and myself paid a very successful visit to KF Farm. We conducted a “360-view” assessment and report on KF Farm’s business activities covering the entire value chain with the aim to define the current and desired situation (KF farm’s ambitions and priorities) and to propose an Improvement and Investment Program. The follow-up of this Quickscan will be a feasibility study. For this we are looking for Dutch companies that are interested in doing business in Malaysia and are able to contribute to organic/sustainable farming.

Crucial is the involvement of the Ministry of Agriculture of Malaysia at an early stage as the final aim is regional and national development of the sector (e.g. policy, regulations, subsidies and certification) as well as the involvement of local knowledge institutes for capacity building and research and development. Therefore, a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) including representatives of Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) and myGAP and myOrganic was setup in order to align our activities to government goals and to discuss opportunities for collaboration.

Herewith also many thanks to Louis Beijer (Counsellor for Agriculture | Accredited to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore), the Dutch Embassy in Singapore (Robbin Mulder and Lisa Teo-van Kuijk), the Dutch Embassy in Malaysia (Li Huan) and KF Farm who supported our mission.

 

Vietnam and the Netherlands committed themselves to bring the Vietnamese horticulture sector to a higher level

On Wednesday 10 April during the trade mission led by Prime Minister Rutte, Minister van Nieuwenhuizen and Vice-Minister Sonnema to Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Nhu Cuong – Acting General Director of Crop Production Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Mr. Henk van Eijk – Chairman of the Vietnam Netherlands Horti Business Platform signed a Memorandum of Understanding to express their intent to cooperate together as to benefit from each other’s complimentary expertise in the horticultural sector. The signing ceremony took place during the Holland Trade Networking Lunch in Hanoi in the presence of potential Dutch and Vietnamese members: KP Holland, Onings Holland Flowerbulbs, Wageningen Food and Biobased Research, Kenlog b.v., VinEco, LAVIFOOD ISC, Nafoods Group JSC, HADICO, Thien Dieu and VNUA.

Cooperation model

The prospective Vietnamese and Dutch members of the Platform, participating in a cooperative association U.A., are developing a cooperation model with the aim:

  • to produce safe and healthy food by applying smart farming, such as pest and disease management and cultivation techniques to protect the soil and groundwater conditions or restore and rehabilitate soil and water resources for agricultural use;
  • to shorten the food supply chain in order to secure ultra-fresh, safe produce for consumers and minimizing waste;
  • to increase the revenue and profit margins for (small) farmers by minimizing waste and losses of fresh produce.

This model will use proven and innovative technologies and the knowledge and experience of the members of the Platform, covering all stages of the entire supply chain, such as propagation materials, greenhouse equipment and technology, sustainable energy and water management, cultivation methods and techniques for greenhouses and open field, climate control and post-harvest management.

Efficient agro-food supply chains

‘Many of the Vietnamese partners are looking for a concept that offers them tools to develop their agro-food supply chain as efficient as in the Netherlands. The Platform can offer Vietnamese partners tailor-made and comprehensive supply chain solutions from the initiation of projects, to the implementation and upscaling. Strategic business planning, market analysis, agro-logistics planning, hardware installation, improved starting material, post-harvest technology, research, and much more can be made available through the members of the Platform; generally each individual organization could only offer some of these services. By joining forces the Platform can offer a complete ‘supply chain package’ and therefore respond much better to the specific needs of the Vietnamese partners.‘ explains Heike Axmann from Wageningen Food & Biobased Research (part of Wageningen University & Research), one of the founding members of the Platform.

Field visit to VinEco

On Friday 12 April, Kenlog as initiator of the Platform organised a field trip to VinEco for the companies with a focus on the agri- and horticulture sector. VinEco is one of the potential Platform members and is a subsidiary of the Vingroup. VinEco cultivates for the domestic market safe and high quality products including fresh vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, flowers and medicinal plants at farms located throughout Vietnam. The fresh produce is sold via their own distribution channels and outlets, named VinMart (supermarkets), VinMart+ (convenience stores) and Adayroi (online sales).

For more details and/or interest, please contact:

Mr. Henk van Eijk, Kenlog b.v., henkvaneijk@kenlog.nl, +31 646 260 025

Mr. Theo Tiegelaar, Kenlog b.v., theotiegelaar@kenlog.nl, +31 624 922 350

Ms. Mirjam Boekestijn, Kenlog b.v., mirjamboekestijn@kenlog.nl, +31 625 276 071

A legal vehicle for the first AgroFreshPark in Poland has been officially registered

On the 2ndof February 2019 AgroFreshPark Holding B.V. and Blue Fifty B.V. officially registered in the Court of Łódź, Poland AgroFreshPark sp. z o.o. This limited liability company shall act as the operational entity for the development, building and operation of the first AgroFreshPark in Central Poland.

AgroFreshPark sp. z o.o., together with a group of selected partners, took the initiative to prepare a development plan for AgroFreshPark Łódzkie, a fresh food business park in the heart of Poland. The partners, together with other qualified partners, have the ambition to develop and build a fresh food business park according to the so-called cluster concept. In 2019/2020 the first ready to build plots should be offered to Polish and international companies, directly or indirectly related to fresh food production, processing and distribution.


Why Poland?

The Polish domestic market for food products is very attractive. Poland is one of the fastest growing countries in the EU since its accession to the European Union and they also demonstrated to have a responsible, reliable and resilient economy during the financial crisis. Its macroeconomic situation is stable and the success of the recent years is well founded on robust domestic demand. Poland will become, together with the Netherlands, Spain and France, one of the major food production, processing and trading economies within the European Union, particularly its dominant position in Central and Eastern Europe forms a strong foundation.


A FreshPark, AgroPark and ServicePark section

AgroFreshPark Łódzkie will form a “transit hub” between the Netherlands, Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, but also will play an important role in the “local-for-local” market. The proposed concept is based on the “Greenport” model, successfully developed and implemented in the Netherlands. Benchmark projects in the Netherlands are Fresh Park Venlo and Agriport A7. AFPL’s ambition is to develop and build during the first phase (2019 – 2021) 10 hectares of industrial area for fresh food business (FreshPark section) and 40 hectares for greenhouse developments for horticultural production (AgroPark section). At later stages AFPL will develop another 40 hectares for business parks and 160 hectares for greenhouses.

For further details please click here

For more information, contact Mr. Theo Tiegelaar, email: theotiegelaar@kenlog.nl

Formal Establishment of the Netherlands Vietnam Horticulture Platform

On the 19th of December a signing ceremony took place at the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in The Hague, the Netherlands, during which a group of Dutch companies and institutions formally established The Netherlands Vietnam Horticulture Platform.

Members within this platform will strengthen their capacities and capabilities in order to provide knowledge, expertise and investments for the further development of the whole supply chain including seed breeding, crop cultivation, greenhouse and technology supply, post-harvest management, trading, logistics, design and engineering.

During this ceremony the Ambassador, H.E. Mrs Ngo Thi Hoa, expressed her full support and with the assistance of Mr Nguyen Hai Tinh, the economic counsellor of the Embassy, the first contacts have already been established with Vietnamese counterparts.

For more details and/or interest, feel free to contact us

Initiators and first members are: Axia Vegetable Seeds, Onings Holland Flower bulbs, Wageningen Food Biobased Research, Van der Valk Horti Systems, Kneppelhout & Korthals Advocaten, Kuiper Compagnons, Kenlog

HSL and Urban Farming Partners team up for sustainable local greens

Singapore imports 90% of its food – a sustainable solution was launched at CleanEnviro Summit Singapore.

Infrastructure construction company HSL and Dutch consortium Urban Farming Partners formally marked their partnership at the Singapore International Water Week, the World City Summit and the CleanEnviro Summit in Singapore. The two partners will develop an urban farm in Singapore. This farm will be located inside the premises of HSL at the waterfront at Penjuru Road, opposite Jurong Island. Urban Farming Partners is a consortium with expertise in various aspects of indoor growing concepts, from growing and logistics to marketing and urban planning. The aim of the cooperation is to produce vegetables for the local market in a sustainable manner.

About 10% of the food that is consumed in Singapore is produced locally. The Singapore Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) supports and encourages initiatives that contribute to a higher level of self-sufficiency in greens. With the industry of indoor farming still in its infancy, Urban Farming Partners chooses to engineer the farm backwards, starting with the demand and making sure the technologies applied are in line with local consumer trends. Moreover, solutions from the circular economy concepts will be applied, such as the use of solar energy, rain water and by-products of neighbouring companies, like CO2 and residual cooling.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by the chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities, Mr Khoo Teng Chye, Mr Ahmed Aboutaleb, mayor of the city of Rotterdam, and H.E. Ms Margriet Vonno, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

For more information:

www.hsl.com.sg

www.urbanfarmingpartners.sg

For more information, please contact:

Nienke Gelderloos – Policy Advisor for Agricultural Affairs, Liaison Manager Urban Farming Partners nienke.gelderloos@minbuza.nl +65 6739 1152

Mirjam Boekestijn – Coordinator of the Urban Farming Partners, mirjamboekestijn@kenlog.nl +31 625276071

Wouter Vos – Chairman of the Urban Farming Partners, wvos@kuiper.nl +31 653134861