Ben Hoogendoorn is Sales Manager at Horticoop Technical Services, which supports growers in the Netherlands and Germany from three locations with technical equipment and maintenance services. “We are close to customers and offer service 24/7,” he says. “I also see that dedication to service and quality at Van Dijk heating. We’ve been working with them for a long time, to our complete satisfaction.”
As a one-stop supplier in water, electrical, lighting and climate technology, the people at HCTS – 90 in total, 60 of whom are in the field – are used to responding to customers’ questions from a broad perspective and offering cost-effective solutions that fit the business situation well. “Custom work is always possible, but usually also more costly and not always necessary,” Hoogendoorn notes. “Very often you can find the solution the customer is looking for with standard equipment that has proven its effectiveness, or with simple, smart adjustments to existing systems. We not only look at the technical performance and costs at purchase, but also at the expected lifespan, consumption costs and additional costs for service and maintenance. We only sell products that we stand by fully and that we can service well to give our customers lasting peace of mind. That’s what we do, and I think it’s recognized in the market.”
Ton van Dijk agrees with his reseller’s words. We also aim for standardization, because we can set up our organization much more efficiently for that. It saves on costs, and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. But even in our case: customization is always possible.”
Hoogendoorn and Van Dijk note that in many cases you can also use standard systems and components to provide customers with customized service. In this context, the Sales Manager points to Van Dijk heating’s new CRUM CO2 meters, which were recently installed for two major HCTS customers. Hoogendoorn has high expectations of the simple but smart measuring instrument.
“As horticultural companies burn less natural gas and become dependent on external CO2, the cost of CO2 will rise and optimization will become necessary,” he predicts. “CO2 will be the next big issue after energy efficiency. Companies like the Marjoland rose nursery in Waddinxveen and the Van Adrichem tomato nursery in Terneuzen, which runs entirely on residual heat, already want to respond to this. It was really a good thing that Van Dijk heating just came onto the market with the CRUM meters. They provide a good, affordable solution to the question of how you can control the CO2 concentration in each greenhouse or department more accurately.”
Van Dijk confirms that demand for the supply meters has now increased, in other countries as well. When asked whether he notices any other trends that are relevant to his supplier, the Sales Manager says: “Yes, certainly. The threat of viruses continues to be relevant in cucumber and tomato cultivation. Companies want to eliminate the risk of spreading viruses through irrigation water as much as possible. We see that heating as a reliable, low-maintenance disinfection technique is once again gaining interest. We have never sold as many ECOSTER units as in the past five years.”
“We now have a wider range of disinfectants than we did ten years ago,” adds Van Dijk. “That certainly helped.”
“This brings us back to square one, namely offering to customize with standard products,” Hoogendoorn notes succinctly. “To do that well, you first have to listen carefully to growers and installers and think about their needs. I think that’s where your greatest strength lies. You make equipment that really benefits our customers, sometimes for decades without needing significant maintenance. Not everyone can do that.”