“It’s interesting to see how Ridder produces the climate screens themselves.”

At Ridder, we like to invite growers to see how we produce screen cloth. Dutch greenhouse cultivators Aad Hendriks and Hani Mohammad from Growers BV ordered a special size of the RES 10 FR energy screen and were allowed to start the knitting machine and production themselves. “It is very interesting to see,” said Hendriks. Peter Janssen from Dutch installation company Steetec was also present, they support the growers with the installation of the screen cloths. 

Growers BV consists of seventeen greenhouse horticulture companies, in addition to their own employment agency and various logistics & transport companies. There is a diverse cultivation, spread across the various companies. From hot peppers to tomatoes, from cucumbers to capsicums. “For example, we have the Black Bullet, a specially developed Jalapeno,” says Aad Hendriks. “We export our products to the United States, Mexico and Russia, among other countries.”  

Insight into the process
Growers BV will replace the current screen fabrics in a total of five greenhouses with Ridder’s energy saving screens. This renovation project is more than 28 hectares. The greenhouse structures require a special size of the RES 10 FR energy saving screen, also known as ‘The Original’. Thanks to the ‘Ridder Co-Created Screens concept, it was no problem at all to incorporate the wishes of Growers BV  into the fabric. “The knitting machine is adapted to the wishes of the grower,” says Ridder’s product specialist climate screens Johan van Erven. “In this case it was about a special size. Thanks to Co-Created Screens, a lot is possible, not just custom widths. In consultation with growers and installers, we really do create a screen completely to the customer’s wishes.”

“They are beautiful machines!”
It is wise to replace screen cloth once in a while. “It’s interesting to see how Ridder produces the screen cloth itself here in Maasdijk,” says Peter Janssen of Steetec. “They are nice machines that produce good screen cloths!”

Starting the production process themselves
The growers and the installer walked through the production hall under the guidance of Johan van Erven. There the process was made transparent from production to stock. Naturally, a lot of attention was paid to the impressive knitting machines and the modifications that were made for Growers BV. “I love engineering,” says Hani Mohammad. “So this was really fun to see. You really have to consider everything when you make a screen cloth.” Finally, the men from Growers BV got to push the button themselves to start the knitting process of their own Co-Created Screens.

A cost-effective solution
With the screens from Ridder and the installation from Steetec, the companies at Growers BV are back up to date when it comes to energy screens. Certainly with the current high gas price, this is an important investment. ‘Thanks to Ridder Co-Created Screens, there is a profitable solution for every grower and every greenhouse.’