Knibbe Vegetables 1-2

“Those VHM machines are like Lego, you want more and more of them,” he said.

Knibbe Vegetables is a beautiful family business located in the Wieringermeer polder. The farm next to the recently built 5,000-square-meter barn is called the Schipholhoeve; a reference to the company’s origins in the early 1950s. The company is now run by the third generation of Knibbe; three brothers who focus on the cultivation and sale of iceberg lettuce, seed potatoes and onions in particular. In addition, carrots, sugar beets, wheat and celeriac are grown. Increasingly, business processes are supported by VHM machinery.

The ambition

Managing Director Luke Knibbe: “I run Knibbe Vegetables together with my brothers. Tasks are clearly divided, and I mainly deal with iceberg lettuce. We officially took over the company, but my father still helps out and my mother handles the bookkeeping. We are a real family business and very happy about that. We just work hard and do all we can to deliver the best possible products. In doing this, we work with a permanent team of mainly Polish and Romanian employees. Depending on the season, their number varies from 10 to as many as 40 employees. In addition, we also regularly contract Dutch workers.”

The challenge

“As with all arable farming companies, availability and affordability of labour is one of the biggest business challenges. In addition, CO2 emissions are a growing problem. We are working with fewer and fewer pesticides and increasingly relying on automation for hoeing. We are also introducing more automation in storage and VHM is one of our partners in this area. They are helping us find solutions that allow us to remain productive with the same number of people and, in the long run, probably with fewer people.”

“We also made the reading table orange to match the VHM machines nicely.”

Luke Knibbe, owner Knibbe Vegetables

About Knibbe Vegetables

The foundation of Knibbe Vegetables was laid in 1942, after the first piece of land was sold to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. During the war, great-grandfather Knibbe’s farmland was confiscated by the German occupying forces. As a result of the national airport’s expansion plans, grandfather Knibbe was given the opportunity to start an agricultural business in Wieringerwerf. His son took over in the early 1990s and handed the company over to his sons in 2017. In the meantime, Knibbe has grown into a thriving company that grows crops on approximately 500 hectares of extremely fertile agricultural land on the edge of the IJsselmeer.

The solution

“Part of the solution to increase productivity is to automate. That’s why we chose to optimize our boxes and big bag logistics for the approximately 9,000 boxes we have here. We bought the first box filler from VHM in 2017. We currently have a TwinFilr, MonoFilr and MonoFilrPro from VHM here. We also commissioned a new delivery line this year with a crate loader from VHM. We use that when loading trucks and filling big bags in combination with the TwinFilr. We also have a picking table from Dijkstra in combination with tires from VHM. We also made that picking table orange, so that it nicely matches the VHM machines. Very attractive!”

“VHM’s machines are solid and very rarely malfunction. That really sets them apart from other suppliers’ machines. If there are ever issues, these are always resolved fast. Usually remotely, and if necessary, they’ll drop by. We are, as a result, very satisfied with VHM’s machines and service. They help us to work faster and more easily. Productivity has increased considerably thanks to the VHM machines. Those VHM machines are like Lego, you just want to keep collecting more of them.”