Pieter Hogeveen on how The Greenery is transforming towards the role of director of the digital and sustainable value chain

From focus on product innovation to renewal of own processes; in any case, The Greenery continues to move. This international sales and logistics organization which specializes in fresh fruit and vegetables works closely together with over 500 Dutch and foreign growers. Through Brave New Food, The Greenery maintains ties with other parties in the food chain and closely monitors innovations. “That fits in perfectly with our strategic focus on digital innovation and sustainability.”

Founded in 1996 with the vision to shape a trendsetting organization that offers its growers broad market access and maintain close supply chain relationships with key national and international retail chains, The Greenery is still a market leader, recently for the third time acknowledged by the MT500 ranking as the #1. Pieter Hogeveen, Manager Innovation and Sustainability, is proud of the current status of the company and at the same time he sees a lot of opportunities.

Innovation ecosystem 
“The Greenery sets itself apart from the competition with a broad range of products and services, close ties with growers and retailers, knowledge of the fresh produce market and a focus on innovation and sustainability,” says Pieter. “We would like to maintain this position and will therefore focus on improving our internal processes through digitalisation in the coming years,” he explains. We believe in doing that with partners. The past years, the company has built its innovation ecosystem with the Rockstart AgriFood Startup Programme, Wageningen University, the KVK business challenge, HortiHeroes and Rotterdam Food Cluster, among others. Now we joined Brave New Food as we see a lot of potential in the platform. “That open innovation approach resulted in a lot of good ideas, knowledge and connections,” says Pieter enthusiastically. “However, implementing it at scale takes time.”

Product innovation 
“In product innovation you depend on many things. The grower, the packer, the transporter, the marketer, the retailer and, last but not least: the consumer. What one does not know, one does not eat. So it is very uncertain whether a product will be successful in the supermarket. The purple cauliflower is a hit in France, in the Netherlands it is ignored. And then you haven't even mentioned the product development lifecycle process yet. There is ten years between coming up with a new tomato idea and a packaged box of it in the supermarket.”

Five strategic pillars
"The ambitious Growing Together strategy of The Greenery has five pillars to support the overall objective in transforming our company towards the role of director of the digital and sustainable value chain. One that oversees and manages all parts from seed breeders till the end-consumer. These pillars are innovation, digitization, sustainability, quality and collaboration,” Pieter sums up.

Concrete innovation needs
In concrete terms, The Greenery focuses on a number of innovation needs. “Think of product innovation in uncut and unprocessed fruits and vegetables, innovation in packaging that drives convenience and sustainability, innovative logistics services for fresh produce, data analytics, forecasting & AI and digital access, connection and collaboration throughout the fresh produce value chain,” explains Peter. “We are curious about effective software, hardware and working methods, especially from other industries.”

Collaboration is necessary
To gain new insights, The Greenery works closely with other links in the food chain. Brave New Food is an important partner for this, says Pieter. “Brave New Food makes it even easier to make connections with relevant people,” he says. “And that is necessary, because alone we cannot change the system.”

^ Pieter Hogeveen in our Partner Event aftermovie

So much to offer
Despite its current focus on process innovation, The Greenery is certainly open to smart or tasty solutions for fresh produce. In return, this market leader has a lot to offer. “Think of the more than 500 growers we work with, the biggest retailers of western Europe we have as our clients, and the state-of-the-art cold chain logistics operations we run with our own trucks and distribution centers,” says Pieter proudly.

Open call for Healthy Food Solutions
Brave New Food’s second round of open calls (deadline September 14th) focuses on Healthy Food Solutions. “Of course, that's right up our alley,” says Pieter. “It is our mission to make healthy, safe and affordable fruit and vegetables available to all consumers. In this round, we hope for smart nudging solutions that will encourage consumers - including children - to eat more fruit and vegetables," says Pieter. “Not everyone eats the recommended daily amount yet, so if you have the solution… bring it on!”