According to FAO (2016), the production of fruit and vegetables in the world would have to triple to provide a healthy diet for everyone. The combination of continued rapid urbanisation of China, growing urban middle class, and COVID-19 means that the demand for nutritious, trustworthy, safe, and premium quality fruit and vegetables will only accelerate in the coming future. "Integrated horticulture systems have significant benefits over open field production in terms of quality, variety, resource efficiency, reliability, food safety and so on. Growing near megacities, or shorter supply chains, can further reduce transport, emissions, and food waste", explains Tiffany Tsui, CEO of Springtide Strategy.
"The Netherlands is the world champion in horticulture per square meter, thanks to a unique ‘ecosystem’ of growers, suppliers, greenhouse builders, installers, seed breeders, research institutes and universities. The strength of this ‘ecosystem’ is in collaboration, knowledge sharing and continued innovation", she says.
Live event
To show the strength of the Dutch horticulture ecosystem through concrete examples and cases, the event 'Turnkey Business Models of Feeding & Greening Megacities' will be broadcasted live and with offline guests from government, industry & universities at five megacity locations in China on 14 September.
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This event is organised by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in China. The content director and chair of the event is Tiffany Tsui (CEO Springtide Strategy).
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Tiffany is an international expert and strategy consultant and her expertise is widely regarded by governments, universities and industries in both China and the Netherlands. She is the author of the Green Cities China Strategic Roadmap Report. She was also the Chair of the Jury for the Urban Greenhouse Challenge (2019-2020) organized by Wageningen University & Research, where student teams compete to develop integrated urban farming solutions for Chinese megacities.
Seed to fork
In the event of September 14th, two concrete product examples are featured to understand how the chain - from seed to fork - is organized and how to position and develop the potential international markets. These two product cases are: leafy greens/lettuce and soft fruit (e.g. strawberry and raspberry). The focus is on how the different players along the chain collaborate with each other to innovate and develop new approaches.
“What is the fundamental 'why' of a 'seed-to-fork’ turnkey model? The answer comes down to: quality control, food safety, and consumer trust”, explains Tiffany.
During the nationally broadcasted event on the 14th, the two cases will be presented in a short documentary style featuring interviews and project visits by Tiffany and contributing leading Dutch companies. High level business leaders from China will respond to the key questions during the panel discussion:
- Opportunities and challenges for bringing the Dutch technology and know-how to China
- How to ensure premium quality and food safety throughout the chain, and winning the loyalty of urban consumers in China?
- How to manage risks to develop a successful 'turnkey' business model as premium metropolitan horticulture system operators?
The content participating companies to the cases include: BASF, Bom Group, Codema, Food Ventures, Havecon, Horticompass, TTA, Certhon, Meteor Systems, Rabobank and Van der Avoird Trayplant.
Tiffany with the team of Certhon (left) and Van der Avoird Trayplant (right)
The Chinese business leaders are the following:
Li, Qin, CEO, Aibida (Yunnan) - He has been in the flower industry for 20 years and has a deep understanding of the frontier technology and development trend of the flower industry in China and abroad. He has made outstanding contributions to the establishment, innovation and development of China's flower industry quality standards and modern production system.
Dr. Bai Peiyu, CEO Foxconn Agri Tech - Foxconn is committed to applying industrial technology to promote agricultural modernization. Foxconn Agritech develops automated indoor vertical smart hydroponics and operates the plant factory in Shenzhen.
Ti Wenzan, Head of International Cooperation, China Fruit Marketing Association (CFMA) - The China Fruit Marketing Association (CFMA) was established in 1991. It is a nationwide non-profitable corporation of fruit industry registered under the China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. The CFMA is voluntarily formed by companies engaged in fruit production, circulation, processing and storage, cooperatives, local associations, research institutes, and other relevant companies serving the fruit industry.
Zhai Shujia, Fresh supply chain expert, former researcher and BD manager for training at China office of Wageningen University and Research Food and Biobased Research. Founding member of A-Park Agritech Industry Association - Zhai Shujia has been engaged in the fruit and vegetable post harvest industry for more than 10 years. She has held many postharvest courses and study tours, participated in planning and directing a number of large-scale controlled atmosphere projects of fruits and vegetables. The A-Park Agritech Industry Association is a recently established association with leading Chinese companies aimed at upgrading the agricultural systems of China.
Tang Haibin, Operation Director, SPAR China - SPAR is one of the leading supermarket chains in Europe and in the world. SPAR China has been active in China for more than 15 years. SPAR China develops alliances with local Chinese supermarkets and brings in advanced supply chain management know-how to the Chinese fresh retail space.
To join the event, please follow this link: https://meeting.tencent.com/l/SQdvmm1tqpmS. International participants will need to download VooV (the international version of Tencent) to watch the broadcast. The videos Tiffany prepared will have both English and Chinese subtitles, but the panel discussion that she’ll chair will be in Chinese only. The embassy will make the content available later with subtitles as well.
For more information:
Springtide Strategy
Tiffany Tsui
[email protected]
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in China
[email protected]