We hope you're still in trade show mood because this week, HortiContact took place in Gorinchem, Netherlands. Originally a show for the Dutch growers, and still with a strong focus on relationships in the industry, also quite some international growers and suppliers found their way to the event, which offers a glimpse of the hot topics in the Dutch market, with energy being one of the most important ones.
Enough batteries to be found at the fair. Including at BattiQ, which focuses on connecting batteries directly to medium voltage.
LED lights of course! Anno Hermans and Donato Lucia from Valoya had a great time in Gorinchem with their new LED solutions
Energy efficiency
With the Dutch market being stable in terms of expansions, and a high focus on efficiency and energy, it makes sense many LED suppliers were found at the show. Remarkable was also the suppliers of batteries, which is a relatively new, and hot topic in the Dutch market.
The first question when it comes to batteries is often: what does such a thing cost, and what is the payback time? But after that it is mainly about how do you want to use a battery, fit it in and why do you choose the battery of company x and not of company y? If you looked closely, you saw that many battery suppliers ultimately offer something similar. There are x-number of suppliers of battery cells. Where batteries could be found, and the doors were open to look inside, you saw a lot of the same. Where the suppliers of energy storage try to distinguish themselves is, among other things, by optimally fitting a battery into the existing situation at the horticulturist, an eye for the insurance aspect or good software to control the battery and to let the battery perform optimally on the various energy markets.
Lenzeel's leaf picking robot attracted a lot of attention. Who wouldn't want to touch the part of the robot where all the leaves disappear at a rapid pace?
Erwin Verbraeken and Marloes Rosier from Paskal
This year's batteries are the e-boilers and solar panels of the past years. It shows that energy is an important topic for horticulture, and that companies, also from outside the sector, are responding to this. It was striking that there was no e-boiler to be found at the fair this year, and the number of suppliers of solar panels is also more limited than before. Where you saw solar panels, it was mainly for placement on water. And here too, directly in combination with a battery.
View the full photo report here.