Why European Investment Into U.S Vegetable Greenhouses May Be Imminent

Posted by Brian Sparks|August 14, 2020

A group of Dutch horticulture companies recently developed an exploratory study on the market potential and investment opportunities for high-tech greenhouses in the U.S., specifically the Midwest, East Coast, and the state of California. The study looks at the production, import, and consumption of fresh produce in the U.S., and estimates how large the high-tech greenhouse market could be if imports from Mexico and Canada were replaced. It is then indicated indicatively which investment opportunities this can provide to Dutch suppliers.

There is a clear potential for high-tech greenhouse vegetable production in the U.S., provided that market requirements can be met, the report states.

“The most important aspect is entering into contracts with retailers,” the report says. “Preferred is a construction in which deliveries are made at fixed prices with defined product quality criteria. It is the combination of competitive prices and to-be-delivered services (designing, building, and maintenance) which will determine whether the Dutch greenhouse industry can benefit from the demand for greenhouse horticultural development in the U.S.”

The opportunities for establishing high-tech greenhouses in the Midwest and East Coast region and the state of California depend on local and regional biophysical conditions such as climate, infrastructure, and distance to markets. This might be worked out in more detail in a follow-up of this study, in which the feasibility can be determined more concretely.

The study was commissioned and financed by the Netherlands embassy in Washington, D.C. and the Netherlands Consulate in Chicago, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, and NL Works. Recent data has also been gathered from Dutch and American statistical sources, and information has been collected from various reports and magazines.