Luttelgeest, The Netherlands, 20 July 2023 – Vegetable breeding company Enza Zaden officially gave the go-ahead today for the construction of their own sustainable, eight-hectare production location in Luttelgeest, in the province of Flevoland. At this new site Vitalis organic seed will be produced for sales to professional organic growers worldwide. It concerns mostly organic sweet pepper and cucumber seed, but organic lettuce and leek seed will also be produced. The first seeds are expected to be sown from April 2024.
Allison Thomas, Chief Operations Officer, and Dirk Neelis, Chief Financial Officer at Enza Zaden, revealed the construction sign, in the company of invited guests and construction partners involved, formally marking the start of construction work on the organic production location. Allison Thomas: “As the world's population continues to grow, so does the need for healthy food. We’re also seeing the demand for organic seed increase for, among others, sweet pepper and cucumber. This is why we’re building this new, sustainable production location for Vitalis Organic Seeds in Luttelgeest. This is in line with our goal: breeding to feed the world and creating value for sustainable life and living.”
Construction of three hectares of greenhouses will get under way first on the eight-hectare site. As well as greenhouses, there will be a seed production building, a seed extraction building, a large basin and a helophyte filter, or biofilter, for purification of waste water. In order to produce vegetable seeds as sustainably as possible, amongst other things, the family company will be installing over 900 solar panels on the roofs. In the 7000 m2 basin, with a capacity of nearly 3 Olympic-size swimming pools, rainwater is collected and this is expected to be enough to meet the site’s total water need. In the near future, the toilets, too, are going to be flushed using rainwater.