"In Portugal, we can benefit more from nature"

Roel van Schie is operations director of the company founded in 1980 by his father Sjaak. He lives and works in the interior of Portugal, an hour's drive from Lisbon. "The focus of our activities is here in Portugal," Roel says. "Here we do most of the propagation and rooting. We also partly do the same thing in Uganda at Xclusive Youngplants. So in Portugal we make the starting material for our hydrangeas, which are then further grown partly in the Netherlands and partly in Portugal."

Quality, cost and sustainability

Sjaak van Schie moved part of the company's operations to Portugal in the early 2000s. "Especially from a quality point of view, the climate there allows us to deliver top quality year-round," says Roel, who is also involved in the FPC for indoor and garden hydrangeas and for whom sustainability is part of his portfolio.

Cost and sustainability considerations became increasingly important over the years. "The two things often go hand in hand. Here in Portugal, labour is cheaper ánd we benefit more from nature. We have 30 per cent more natural light in spring and it is a lot warmer. As a result, we do not need to expose, whereas in the Netherlands we need to. This saves a lot of energy costs. Our product has a long maturity period between start and delivery, sometimes lasting up to two years. This means it is a lot more expensive in the Netherlands, both in terms of labour and energy."

Roel continues: "The emissions from our transport to the Netherlands do not outweigh the energy emissions we would have in the Netherlands. We can pack a lot into containers that travel to the Netherlands by truck or ship."

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Level playing field in Europe

Working as sustainably as possible is an important organisational goal of Sjaak van Schie. This ranges from reducing packaging materials to dealing properly with staff. In the Netherlands, the grower has combined heat and power (CHP) and works with geothermal energy. But in all honesty, working sustainably is not always easy. "The relationship between sustainable innovation and what it brings in commercially is still a minefield," Roel said. "For instance, we have been investing in knowledge development on peat-free cultivation for five or six years. This method of growing produces 60% less CO2 emissions, but those products are more expensive. For the time being, customers prefer to choose the cheaper variant. You shouldn't move too fast for your customers, but you also don't want to be too late to the party either."

When it comes to crop protection, Roel says there is little difference between the Netherlands and Portugal. "The pest pressure in Portugal is not so different from the one in the Netherlands. We work according to the standards of MPS and Integrated Pest Management (IPM). We scout a lot and employ a differentiation strategy with regard to resource deployment. We prefer to use as few plant protection products as possible and what we do use should be as green as possible. The Netherlands does allow more plant protection products than Portugal, where not every product is licensed. In this respect, we feel it would be better if there was a completely level playing field in Europe. In any case, it is nice that we can benefit from the nature in Portugal."