Growers in South Holland (The Netherlands)* can receive a subsidy until the end of this year to calculate the footprint of their products. The Province of South Holland has awarded a subsidy for this to Greenport West Holland and Greenhouse Sustainability. A maximum of three growers per product group can participate in the subsidy arrangement. The aim of the subsidy is to provide better insight into the footprint per product group.

The footprint of horticultural products is increasingly receiving attention from primary entrepreneurs and buyers. In addition, insight into the footprint is the basis for growers to improve the production process and make it more sustainable. But what is a feasible footprint per product group, and how do individual entrepreneurs perform compared to their colleagues?

There is not always an answer to these questions. That is why Greenport West-Holland and Greenhouse Sustainability submitted a subsidy request to create an indicative benchmark. This subsidy was awarded by the Province of South Holland.

In exchange for anonymously process the results in the benchmark, an entrepreneur receives a discount of €2,000 to have a product footprint calculated. Entrepreneurs receive a product footprint calculation for the year 2022 with insight into sixteen environmental impact categories; in the benchmark the results are anonymized.

Willem Kemmers (Greenport West-Holland): “We are now starting with a limited number of calculations, but that already provides a global insight into the environmental impact of the horticultural cluster of those products.” Henri Potze (Greenhouse Sustainability): “The calculation is not a value judgement, but it does indicate where the greatest opportunities lie for sustainability measures.”

Three companies per product group can participate in the arrangement. Interested companies can register via sandra@greenhouse-sustainability.com.

* Available to growers mostly in South Holland, with some exceptions assessed separately.