As for the petunia and
calibrachoa houses, they are split
into smaller compartments to
minimize any potential issues.
"These greenhouses are
18,000 square meters or 4
acres and they're split into eight
compartments," Kroon says. "Each
compartment has its own clothes,
and own teams."
The clothes are color coded,
so if someone is wearing yellow,
they can only be in the yellow
compartment, blue in the blue
compartment, etc.
If an issue does arise, the
idea is that the effects won't be
widespread. Las Mercedes also
has a lab on site to test in a timely
manner for bacteria and viruses.
Protocol includes labeling each
sample and pot from the exact
same spot, so they can track and
trace all testing.
Timing is like clockwork on the
farm with harvesting during the
day, packing in the afternoon and
evening, cuttings leaving the farm
around 4 a.m. and getting on the
first flights around 8:30 a.m.
"The most important part of
the chain is at the airport before
they go into the airplane," Kroon
says. "Once they're in cargo, it's
cold up there."
For this reason, Dümmen Orange
recently installed its own cold area
at the airport in a similar fashion
as the cold rooms on the farm.
This is just one more step
to make sure the cold chain is
maintained from the farm to the
thousands of final greenhouse
destinations across the U.S. and
Canada.
PRODUCTION
Las Mercedes sits on
300 acres with 70 acres
of greenhouses and
some coffee production
that remains from
when the farm was first
purchased. The entire
farm is surrounded by a
concrete wall.
One of the benefits
to Las Mercedes is
that they were able
to design it exactly
how they wanted and
modeled it after the
Good Seeds and Plant
Protection system.
SG_TestimonialAD_7x10_JRPage_050616.pdf 1 2016-05-06 4:12 PM
