Growers in the Western part of France do not shy away from installing advanced high tech greenhouse automation and techniques to grow year round. The dynamic industry in the Nantes region brings local installer Divatec a lot of work.

Within ten years after it’s foundation, installation company Divatec has become a familiar name within the horticultural industry in Western France. Jean-Michel Mahé and John Guitteny started the company after gaining a lot of experience in the agricultural industry. As a result of the increased interest for automation among French growers, they started with providing the first installations in 2006. Since its inception, the company quickly grew to an impressive organization with more than 30 employees.

The company is primarily active in Western France, nearby Nantes. According to Divatec’s CEO Jean-Michel Mahé, this is a dynamic region with many types of horticultural production. “We serve all kinds of companies, from small organic growers to large scale producers of indoor horticultural crops like tomatoes, strawberries, plants, salads, radishes and apples. Sometimes in simple tunnels, other times in high tech advanced glass greenhouses. An increasing group of these growers is adapting advanced automation, irrigation and IT solution to increase and optimize their production.”

As an example, Mahé speaks about the project they recently completed for greenhouse tomato grower Serres de La Piogerie, a family company run by three sisters in Bouaye, west of Nantes. Together with a local team of HortiMax, Divatec here installed a MultiMa process computer with Synopta 4 operating software, a Vitalite disinfection unit, two ProDrain sets and a very comprehensive Productive system with 70 MiniMaX handheld input terminals.

Another noteworthy project that highlights the potential for their services is the project at grower Jean-René Briand of Serres de la Giraudiere east of Nantes. This tomato grower installed the advanced combination of HPS and LED supplemental lighting in order to grow vine tomatoes year round. Divatec installed the system in cooperation with light supplier Hortilux and their local partner Atout Services.

“These projects show how dynamic the greenhouse industry in our region currently is. Growers are eager to optimize their production and to not shy away from using the latest innovations.”

For this reason, Divatec works closely with strategic partners like HortiMaX for irrigation, IT, and control solutions as well as with Netafim irrigation equipment. “With our installation and after sales service we mainly serve growers in the western part of France, but we are also available for both national and international projects.

Mahé is satisfied with the current state and opportunities within the French industry. “We are happy to serve a growing market and are growing ourselves too. This year we will be hiring another 6 workers in order to keep up with the demand for our installation services.”