Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Cornerways, one of Britain's 'greenest' nurseries, is to
become a full member of the Coforta cooperative after several years
of successful and close collaboration between the nursery and The
Greenery UK Ltd. The cooperative is planning an
expansion of its vegetable fruits acreage as from 1 January 2012.
The organisation has been welcoming new members into the fold and
has noted growth among its existing members. The acreage allocated
to the vegetable fruits segment (tomatoes and cucumbers) will be
expanded by 67 hectares, of which 49 are located in the Netherlands
and 18 in the UK.
Coöperatie Coforta is the grower cooperative which owns
international fresh produce trading company The Greenery and which
brings together around 1,000 mostly Dutch grower companies.
Cornerways will become only the second British member of Coforta
after Billingham-based John Baarda Ltd became a member last year.
With 18 hectares of tomato cultivation, Cornerways is one of the
largest tomato nurseries in Britain. Its produce will be marketed
through Greenery UK Ltd to British retailers.
With this expansion, the total acreage allocated to The Greenery
tomatoes will come to over 350 hectares in the Netherlands.
Including members from other countries, the total tomato acreage
will be over 400 hectares. This growth is in line with the targets
set out together with the growers in the Product Business Plan.
Sustainable production
Cornerways Nursery is one of Britain's most sustainable and
energy-efficient nurseries. The greenhouse at Wissington, Norfolk,
uses no fuel for heating. All the heat needed to maintain a
year-round growing temperature of around 20oC is
provided by using recycled water from the sugar making process
provided by the combined heat and power (CHP) system in the
adjacent British Sugar processing plant. The CHP system generates
over 70 MW of electricity which powers the factory and around
100,000 nearby homes. It also produces steam and high temperature
water for use in sugar processing.
Low-grade heat from the CHP system, in the form of hot water, is
piped to Cornerways Nursery to heat the 18 hectare greenhouses. A
duct connecting the factory to the greenhouses also provides around
2,400m3 per hour of CO2-rich flue gas. Some of the CO2
is absorbed by the growing tomatoes, further reducing the
'greenhouse gas' emissions from the sugar factory.
Cornerways goes further than just reusing resources from the
adjacent British Sugar factory. The nursery stores and
re-circulates all its rain and runoff water, green waste is
composted in a unique system and pests are managed through
chemical-free bio-control.
The Greenery recently gave Cornerways Nursery the 'Nature
Counts' sustainability label. The Nature Counts sustainability
label is used in order to transparently communicate with clients
and consumers about sustainable products. In order to be eligible
for the label, products must have demonstrated success in the
marketplace and be at the forefront of sustainable production.
Supplier
Through its growers, The Greenery aims to continue being able to
provide large volumes of greenhouse vegetables, soft fruits, top
fruit, mushrooms, field and import products all year round. The
Greenery collaborates closely with all of its growers, offering
short lines of communication to ensure maximum efficiency in the
supply chain. It is largely due to this cooperation that The
Greenery is and can remain a leading supplier of vegetable
fruits.