Finnish propagator celebrates 70 year anniversary

On Friday 4th of July, the Finnish propagator Sigg-Plant celebrated their 70th anniversary together with their customers in Närpes. The event gathered a total of 125 attendees from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Baltics, and Poland. The celebrations kicked off with a seminar, moderated by Hans van Herk and Robert Jordas.

After officially opening the seminar and the celebrations, the moderators welcomed the first speaker on stage, Meiny Prins, the executive chairman of Priva Group. Meiny gave the audience her view on the future of horticulture, addressing both the challenges that we face worldwide, but she also highlighted that there are opportunities for those willing to tackle these challenges. Meiny's presentation was truly inspiring and certainly an eye-opener for the audience, showing them that they are the solution for the future.

This was followed by a presentation from Signify's plant specialist Stiina Kotiranta. Stiina shared her experiences on maybe the hottest topic on the horticultural market right now, modulating LEDs. It could clearly be seen that modulating LEDs are on every grower's mind right now, as the presentation resulted in a lot of questions from the audience.

Before heading for lunch, the CEO of Nordic Greens, Mads Ulrik Pedersen, was welcomed on stage. Mads gave a truly inspiring presentation on how he and Nordic Green have worked with branding and differentiation to stay competitive in the Danish market, which is probably the most competitive market in the Nordics. Mads also shared his experiences of starting up their lettuce production, Nordic Greens Salat.

After lunch, when the audience had the opportunity to network and discuss the first three presentations, Prof. Dr. Ir. Leo F.M. Marcelis entered the stage. Leo, a true specialist in plant physiology, addressed why we as growers should focus more on plant control instead of climate control, as the climate is ultimately just a tool to control the plant. Leo also presented results from different studies done at Wageningen University & Research regarding yield and high light intensities, which was certainly interesting for the audience, mainly consisting of growers from countries where high light intensities are installed.

As the last speaker of the day, Lukas Sigg from Nordic Energy Consulting was welcomed to the stage. Lukas gave the audience a presentation about the Nordic energy market. He highlighted topics such as hedging electricity use with futures, the frequency market, and how greenhouse growers can take advantage of cheap spot-price hours by combining e-boilers and heat storage. Lukas noted that "as a greenhouse grower, you are both in the greenhouse business and in the energy business," a point that was certainly clear by the end of his presentation.

To wrap up the seminar, a panel discussion on dehumidification was held. The panel consisted of four growers and was moderated by Hans van Herk. During the discussion, the growers shared their experiences and thoughts on working with four different kinds of dehumidification machinery, as each of them used a different type of machinery.

© Sigg-PlantOn the chairs, starting from left: Toni Tanner (Hortiherttua Oy), Jan Terje Vignes (Lauvsnes Gartneri A/S), John Helge Lillevold (Meråker Grönt AS), and Jonathan Nordberg (JCON Greenhouse Ab).

The seminar was followed by an evening party, held at the same location. The evening party consisted of speeches, music, and dinner. At the same time, the attendees had the opportunity to network and discuss the thoughts that had come up after the seminar held during the day. The evening party was also attended by Helge Sigg, who founded the company back in 1955, as a 16-year-old.

For more information:
Oy Sigg-Plant Ab
info@sigg-plant.com
www.sigg-plant.com/en