Flevoland Groeit event – 30 September

On Thursday, 30 September, entrepreneurs will drive around the province of Flevoland to visit three municipalities and gain knowledge, inspiration, and enthusiasm for the next step in their entrepreneurial journeys. This unique business event is being organised by Horizon, the Province of Flevoland’s regional development company.

Two routes have been laid out for participants to travel from the general assembly to the three sessions on location. During the opening assembly, participants will have a chance to hear from economist and journalist Mathijs Bouwman and entrepreneur Nasima el Bachiri-Ouamar. The sessions on-site will deal with current circularity, export, innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship after the coronavirus.

A ‘Rij mee met Horizon’ (Ride Along with Horizon) app has been developed especially for this event. The app displays all the routes and session locations in an interactive map, and participating entrepreneurs can network through the matching and chat functions.

Want to ride along with us on 30 September?
Entrepreneurs can already register at Horizon Flevoland Events.

Fruit Attraction 2021: Hope to see you there!

“It’s finally open!”  That was the reaction of sales representatives Henri Hendrikse, Rudie Ensing and Michel Veltman when they heard that the trade fair in Madrid wasn’t going to be cancelled again this year. From 5 to 7 October, Waterman Onions will be present at the Fruit Attraction fair, the international fair for everyone active in the fruit and vegetable sector. 

Our sales reps are finally able to travel again after a year and a half of working from home, and they’ve been looking forward to it. Rudie Ensing posted his thoughts on travelling again on Waterman Onions’ social media channels – from Schiphol, appropriately enough. Henri Hendrikse: “I’m mainly looking forward to talking to customers again.” For sales rep Michel Veltman, the trade fair is one of the first times he’ll be able to meet his customers in person. “We’ve mainly had contact over the telephone, WhatsApp and e-mail until now.” That’s because Michel started working at Waterman just as the coronavirus pandemic hit the country. “My colleagues have told me that the fair in Madrid is one of the fastest-growing fairs.” That’s why Waterman has joined with partners to create a surprising stand for Fruit Attraction. Henri Hendrikse has a hint for us all: “Pay attention to the colour black: that’s all I can say for now and enjoy the surprise!”

Who are the men and women of Waterman?

In this column, we introduce one of our employees by asking them a few questions about themselves. Why? Because we’re proud of our team!

Read more

Red Light soil blocks

In early March, growers Kuunders and Derikx in South Holland planted 1.5 million red onion soil blocks. The blocks are laid out on a machine by hand, and the machine plants them neatly in the ground.

The plots are located in Deurne and Ysselsteyn, where the soil is warmer and the crops can grow faster. The soil blocks with Red Light onions by De Groot en Slot were first allowed to germinate in a greenhouse. Waterman Onions hopes that this method will allow growers to bring the new harvest of red seed onions to market even earlier.

All of the seeds germinated, and the crop has reached a nice even height, so the plot already looks very promising. The project is very labour-intensive, however, which makes it somewhat more expensive. Each hectare will have to produce several kilogrammes to make it break even. It is important that the onions have enough nutrients to achieve a good yield, so that the grower can harvest a healthy product.

Wim Waterman: Finally a new season!

“It’s that time of year again: the season for new Dutch onions, which traditionally happens together with the season for new Dutch herring! Both are as fresh as they are delicious!” For Wim Waterman, the new season can’t start soon enough. “I was really disappointed in the second half of the last season, so it seemed like it would never end.” But after a false start, the first half of the season made everything better again. “It’s been a spectacular season, with lots of records broken”, adds a beaming Wim.

We’re still packaging the last harvest at the moment, but Waterman Onions has been able to add the import harvest over the past few weeks. “The new Dutch harvest will complement that very nicely”, says Wim. The new harvest received an enthusiastic welcome, and Wim expects that the export motor will be running at full speed soon, although the growers did face some challenges this year. “The unpredictable growth due to the unpredictable weather made it harder for growers to harvest a good product this year.” But Wim is cautiously optimistic; “With excellent cooperation it will definitely be possible to supply the same excellent quality as the first half of the season, so we’re looking forward to (hopefully) harvesting good quality and setting new records!”

Grower in focus

Meirink Akkerbouw in Oosternijkerk, Friesland, started using a Steketee camera-controlled hoe this season. The tractor is guided by GPS, and the camera ‘sees’ the onions and steers the tractor towards them. Meirink farms around 21 acres of seed onions under the PlanetProof seal of approval. PlanetProof is a sustainable method for growing onions that allows you as a grower to stand out from the competition. The onions are mainly sold to retailers. Meirink grows red and yellow onions for Waterman.

Yme Meirink explains: “We use the hoe because it allows us to control weeds with less GBM, which makes our crops even more sustainable. We also hope that the market will see the added value of the PlanetProof seal of approval. It also has the benefit of putting a bit more oxygen into the soil.” The loamy sand of the Meirink farm can form a crust after heavy rainfall.

Photo: The tractor of Meirink is guided by GPS, the camera ‘sees’ the onions and steers the tractor towards them.

Update: Waterman Grean

A while back, we told you about the implementation of the Lean method in how we work at Waterman Onions. At Waterman, we call it ‘Grean’: a playful reference to our agricultural roots. Time for an update…

Since the last newsletter, we’ve completed a lot of training and we’ve started work on several improvement processes. But it hasn’t been easy. At Waterman Onions, we’ve always been solutions-oriented, and we’ve noticed that it’s difficult to let go of that mentality. It’s required a whole new way of thinking. We have to learn to let go of ‘the problem’ and start looking for the source. Then we can set goals and assess and analyse the situation. Once we’ve done that, we can look for the underlying causes, and only when we’re convinced that we’ve found it can we start thinking about solutions. In the Grean method, solutions come in all shapes and sizes. The challenge is to find one that prevents the problem from ever occurring again. That’s difficult, but definitely not impossible.

To give just one example: the Waterman Onions small packaging machines are now equipped with an updated system to ensure that the rolls of packaging film can’t be installed the wrong way around. In the past, that caused wastage in the form of packaging downtime or damaged rolls. But now, thanks to Grean, we’ve found an extremely effective solution.

And thanks to Grean Waterman Onions has learned that the power of the solution lies in doing and working together. Teamwork is extremely important to us. In our activities, driven by supply and demand, we have to act quickly and know that we can rely on each other. Every morning at 09:00, all of the departments come together in the cafeteria to discuss the results on the boards. That way, everyone can see what we’ve done, and what we still have to do. Although it can be difficult not to fall back on old habits, we all do our best to learn something new. And we do it together!

We’ve also achieved success in areas such as electricity conservation, cleaning time and productivity, and we’ll talk about them more in a future newsletter.

Photo: Operator (Natalia) changes a roll of packaging film.

Onions yearn for the sun!

This season’s Dutch onions are already in the ground. Uienzaadonline.nl has experienced some amazing growth since last year. Growers are excited about the concept, and with the short lines of communications we’ve experienced a fruitful and comprehensive collaboration. 

The sowing conditions were generally good this year, especially compared to the past few years. The soil structure was promising, and the onion seeds were sown into firm, moist earth. That will allow the seeds to germinate quickly, and it should hopefully provide a good harvest.

“The seeds need warmth above ground to sprout, but that’s lacking at the moment. And the amount of precipitation has been extremely uneven across the country”, says Nathan Rommens, buyer at Waterman Onions. Jelmer Elzinga, also a Waterman buyer, expects a good harvest: “Some fields still haven’t sprouted, but the number of seeds that have germinated so far seems promising.”

Would you like us to come visit? The buyers at Waterman Onions would be happy to come see your fields during the growing season! Jelmer Elzinga +31 (0)6-82537293 | Nathan Rommens +31 (0)6-30002712

Caring and sharing

Last week Waterman Onions supported a great social project in South Africa. The South African nonprofit organization Little Libraries installs bookcases filled with books in disadvantaged villages and communities.

The complete transparency of the project inspired Waterman Onions to sponsor a library for the Alpha Preschool Centre, a shelter for children between the ages of 2 and 5. The care centre is located in Concordia, a small community near Springbok in the Northern Cape.

Many Dutch fresh produce visitors travel from Cape Town to Namibia, however not many know that just a few kilometers from the highway lies a beautiful, but really forgotten region called Namakwaland.

For this project we deliberately chose to go to this area where few people come and where few social projects are carried out. This allows us to create maximum impact with our contribution. One thing is certain: the people of Namakwaland are very happy with our Little Library!

Bron: Nic Jooste – www.nicjooste.nl

Certification offers added value for the future! 

We’ve heard a lot about GRASP and Planet Proof recently, but what do they mean for us? Many European retail companies require their suppliers to have both the Global Gap and GRASP certification.

GRASP stands for GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice. It is a risk assessment method for social aspects within a company, and ensures that an organisation can offer good working conditions and employership. GRASP certification is mainly intended for family firms, and it is relatively easy to apply for. GRASP certification is a supplemental module for the Global Gap certificate.

Planet Proof stands for sustainably produced products. The seal of approval is becoming increasingly common for vegetables, fruit, trees and plants. At the moment, Planet Proof mainly focuses on the Dutch retail market, but the European retail sector is also shifting towards a broader sustainability certification that will also include Planet Proof.

These extra certifications can definitely offer added financial and other value for the sale of your products! Feel free to ask Nathan Rommens (+316-30002712) or Jelmer Elzinga (+316-82537293) about the options available to your company.