Greenhouse Horticulture 'Club of 100'

The business unit Greenhouse Horticulture has started the 'Club of 100,' which will provide suppliers in the greenhouse horticulture with a location in The Netherlands, with easy access to the wide-ranging expertise of the business unit Greenhouse Horticulture and allow them to make a contribution to funding applied strategic research in the Netherlands.

In this way, companies can share responsibility for maintaining knowledge infrastructure and implementing innovation-driven research and pre-competitive projects.

Club of 100 in short

1. Innovative network
2. Direct access to WUR research
3. Research results only for members
4. 2 year membership
5. Half of contribution to spend yourself
6. Half of contribution to strategic research
7. PR-sign and organisation name on website

How does it work?

The Club of 100 members contribute €15.000,- each year for a two year period. In the second year they are given the option of extending their contract. This ensures the continuity of projects.

Members choose how contribution is spent

Members can use half of the membership contribution for business-to-business activities which make use of the expertise of the business unit Greenhouse Horticulture of WUR, such as small-scale research projects, consultancy, simulation calculations, measurements, providing lectures, etc.

The other half of the membership contribution is placed in a communal kitty which is to be used exclusively for enabling the Dutch greenhouse horticulture cluster to maintain its knowledge advantage. The members and Wageningen University & Research jointly decide on the specific use of the kitty, but it is designated for strategic (pre-competitive) research for the medium and long term whereby the results are relatively removed from the direct interests of the individual members.

Network meetings

A networking meeting is held at least twice a year, at which members can discuss funding choices and follow research progress. In addition, each member will receive a large PR board displaying their name and logo in the corridor of the greenhouse facilities in Bleiswijk, The Netherlands, and their organisation will be listed on the website with cross-links to their own website.

Membership for suppliers and traders

Membership in the Club of 100 is exclusively intended for suppliers and traders in the greenhouse horticulture sector with a location in The Netherlands, that supply materials, hardware, software, funding or propagating material to the sector. Non-commercial organisations that focus on innovation and development in the greenhouse horticulture sector may also join. Members fall under the following groups:

Greenhouse builders
Installation companies in the fields of energy, climate and water
Potting compost and substrate suppliers
Suppliers of crop protection, fertilisers and consumables
Banks, insurers and accountant agencies
Energy providers
Suppliers of propagation materials
Trade, distribution and storage

Club of 100 works on strategic topics

The research projects are characterised by the fact that they have a time horizon of between five and ten years before their results are broadly applied in the sector. This type of research lays the foundation for the future of the sector, which is currently facing enormous challenges such as the structural increases to the cost of energy, stricter EU requirements for environmental effects and a market that is constantly demanding new products and placing increasingly high demands on the entire production process. As a result of the dissolution of the Dutch Product Board for Horticulture (Productschap Tuinbouw), the position of this type of research has become even more precarious, endangering the continuity and innovative strength of the Dutch greenhouse horticulture sector.