"We have quite a strange customer base," observes Toon Hopmans of Reinigingswereld when we call him at the end of October. It is the time of crop rotation, and it's busy but "manageable". "We're reasonably well staffed, so that's nice," he says.
Interestingly, at Cleaning World, crop rotation time is actually from June to early March. "In summer we are busy because of this, then consecutively from October to January, and then the season at our place usually runs until the beginning of March. What is nice is that by then we often do have the space to move up a week in case of frost."
Cleaning cloths
Traditionally, Toon and his men have specialized in cloth cleaning, among other things. That is an outdoor job. So when it freezes in winter, it's not always ideal. "By now, we also have a number of customers with whom we can be inside. That's nice. These are then companies that have newly built and have realized space for this, but we have also stood in an old cowshed on occasion, which was linked to a greenhouse farm."
The autumn sun is still shining nicely in the last full week of October, so there is no need for indoor cloth cleaning. Nevertheless, the people of Cleaning World can still be found in the greenhouse a lot. "Cloths, concrete pathways or glass, basically everything inside the greenhouse or shed we can clean," he says.
ToBRFV
When there is a crop change, Cleaning World brings machines and expertise and, depending on the situation, sometimes people operate the machines. Sometimes the grower can also do it himself. "For example, when we rent out sweepers or floor cleaners. We set up those machines and provide them with a quick-start card. That way, a grower can then work with them just fine himself."
Before the crop is switched, Toon finds that the specialists from Cleaning World also have an advisory role at the front. "Growers don't visit colleagues so often anymore. Among other things, they coordinate with us on how they want to get rid of the virus, for example, with a thorough crop rotation."
In recent years, there was a lot to do about Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV). Toon finds that there is more and more knowledge about this, and more certainty about what works to control the virus. "More and more growers are strictly following a hygiene protocol, and not deviating from it. That way, growers who had virus have been declared virus-free again."
Spraying with policy
At Cleaning World, they work with many specialized machines. In recent years, to stay optimally in tune with practice, modifications have been made to existing machines, and completely new ones have been developed, which they test extensively. "With us, it's always a balance between pressure and amount of water. You can go spraying very hard with high pressure, but that is certainly not always the best. We choose to spray at lower pressure with more water. It is also a balance between capacity and speed. You don't want to damage substrates. If we start spraying a gutter clean with our powerful machines at 90 or 100 bar, there is no paint left on it. 50 to 70 bar is enough for our machines."
Lime
Cleaning techniques are getting better, but in the meantime, finding the right cleaning agents also remains a challenge. Lime is a type of contamination that is difficult to remove in greenhouse farming. "It is a very tricky organic material. We build houses with it for a reason. We wouldn't do that if lime was easily soluble in water and detergent," Toon observes dryly.
"You can remove lime, but it's even better to make sure no lime is left behind on cultivation gutters, for example. You can do that with a foil, or make sure lime cannot dry up. We advise on prevention. I also hope that, for instance, fertilizer suppliers continue to research agents that prevent lime from forming, so that it does not affect the cultivation gutters and drip systems beforehand."
Bespoke machinery
In the quieter months, which are therefore mainly April and May, the Noord-Brabant-based cleaning specialist from Hoogerheide, is also active in supplying a total cleaning package to standalone companies, or to companies that want to carry out the crop rotation themselves. These can also be companies from (far) away. "We offer them customized solutions, with high-capacity machines. Think sprayers and cloth cleaners, but also pumps. We can offer the package in such a way that a separate pump is not needed for everything. With one or two pumps with sufficient capacity, growers can then do all the cleaning work themselves."
In the coming period, Reinigingswereld's people will be driving around the Netherlands, Belgium, a part of northern France close to the Belgian border, and Germany. "Because we are often approached by new customers who have been referred by our existing customers, our service is confirmed. Nice to see how far-reaching service is always rewarded after all."
But now first: make meters and bang. "We must ensure that a grower can start clean again."
For more information:
Toon Hopmans
Reinigingswereld
Middenweg 15
4631 ST Hoogerheide
Tel: +31 (0)164 657 151
[email protected]
www.reinigingswereld.nl