Farming meets Business

It’s a sweet life in the Lower Rhine region: with Balisto bars by Mars in Viersen, Prinzenrolle biscuits from Kempen, and licorice from Katjes in Emmerich. But sour goes with sweet too! With gherkins by Kühne in Straelen or Sauerkraut from Leuchtenberg in Neuss.

And there’s everything in between too: asparagus from Walbeck (and many other places), salads, tomatoes, crisp apples and cabbage (especially from Kempen). There’s a great deal growing between the earth and the sky in the Lower Rhine region.

The soil is good, but it is helped along a bit by large areas under glass so that the climate for the plants to grow is also good when clouds appear in the sky. There are around 6,500 horticultural enterprises in the Lower Rhine region accounting for 47 percent of vegetables production and 67 percent of ornamental plant production in North-Rhine Westphalia.

Landgard e.G. in Straelen is one of the most powerful marketing organizations and it has branches in many states in Germany. Following several mergers, it is now the leading marketing organization for ornamental plants (potted plants, cut flowers), vegetables and fruit as well as horticulturists’ and florists’ supplies in Germany. The products supplied by 4,000 horticultural enterprises are marketed only to wholesalers and retailers via cash-and-carry markets, its own sales operations and via auctions in Geldern-Lüllingen, Straelen-Herongen and Roisdorf (near Bonn).

Fruit and vegetables from the Lower Rhine are also distributed daily from Kempen in more than 100 refrigerated vans belonging to the company Absatzzentrale GmbH. Anything that doesn’t leave the Lower Rhine region fresh is kept fresh by freezing or is preserved there and then by turning it into jams, fruit juices or even chips.

Hence, the agrobusiness/food sector is present in the Lower Rhine region at every stage of the value added chain. In addition, there are also technical suppliers and the agricultural machinery sector. The food industry has been a key sector since ancient times, as the concentration of flour and oil mills shows. Thus, it is no surprise that the Lower Rhine region has more enterprises in the food industry than other economic regions. Around 10.5 percent of those employed in the processing industry work in the food production sector. Naturally this includes some breweries known all over Germany. They have to import the hops and malt, but thanks to the good water in the Lower Rhine region, they produce several million hectoliters of Altbier and Pils. And “Underberg”, per se synonym for digestif, comes from the Lower Rhine.

The many research, consultancy and training organizations ensure that the companies are making use of and acting on all the latest findings. One of these is the University of Wageningen, which specializes in agricultural and environmental research, and the area is developing into a “Food Valley” offering services to the food industry; the technical college for agriculture in Kleve with its “Organic Farming” faculty; the Lower Rhine University in Mönchengladbach with the “Nutrition and Food Sciences” faculty, Deula in Kempen with courses for tractor drivers and green keepers, or the Straelen Horticulture Center of the NRW Chamber of Agriculture.

This concentration of expertise gives the food industry in the Lower Rhine a competitive edge, which secures its market share and future prospects. By 2018, the Lower Rhine region will develop into one of the most competitive, one of the most innovative agrobusiness/food regions along the entire value added chain in Europe. The region’s neighbor, the Netherlands, and Greenport are also on board to make sure the two remain Europe’s vegetable garden, fruit dealer and flower garden in the future, too.

In good company

• Bofrost
• Bolten
• Diebels
• Griesson & de Beukelaer
• Kaisers’s
• Kamps
• Katjes
• Königshofer
• Krings Fruchtsaft
• Kühne
• Leuchtenberg
• Mars
• Oettinger
• Sauels
• Sels
• Thomy
• Thywissen
• Underberg
• Werhahn

Initiatives

Agrobusiness Niederrhein is a federation of almost 50 companies, municipalities, chambers, associations and business development organizations. This network promotes the economic prospects and sales opportunities of the companies in the Lower Rhine agrobusiness sector. By setting up a professional network and initiating innovative projects, the Lower Rhine will develop into a center of expertise in agrobusiness. The region’s existing strengths will be enhanced through the exchange of information and experiences as well as project-based cooperation. Agrobusiness/Food comprises the entire value added chain from agriculture and horticulture, and thus includes all the downstream and upstream companies.

Food City Neuss sees itself as a center of the food industry in Neuss that supports companies wherever needed and creates a special incentive for new companies to set up their operations here.

Aktionsbündnis Direkt- und Regionalvermarktung (Alliance for Direct and Regional Marketing) in the districts Wesel and Kleve aims to promote the purchase of regional products with strategic public relations activities.

Weitere Links

• Lower Rhine University
• Technical College for Agriculture
• University of Wageningen (NL)
• Agrobusiness Niederrhein
• Alliance for Direct and Regional Marketing
• Food-City Neuss

Contact

Bertram Gaiser
Geschäftsführer
Standort Niederrhein GmbH
02131 / 92 68 592
gaiser@standort-niederrhein.de