Good Practice - Project
Construction of a 6.5-hectare greenhouse in Ács
A member of a cross-border group of producers used CAP funds to construct a greenhouse with minimal environmental impact. This investment helped expand the group’s product range and strengthen its market position.
General information
RDP Priority
- P2. Competitiveness
RDP Focus Area
- 2A: Farm’s performance, restructuring & modernisation
RDP Measure
- M04: Investments in physical assets
Beneficiary type
- Small-Micro Enterprise
Summary
GreenCoop Cooperative is the first and only cross-border, international group of producers in Slovakia and Hungary. The members are producers whose philosophy is to grow tasty and healthy tomatoes and cucumbers with the smallest possible ecological footprint.
The Hungarian member of the cooperative, Ácsi Thermal-Horticulture Ltd., has been involved in hydroponic cultivation for more than 15 years and, with this investment, was able to build a 6.5-hectare greenhouse, an office building and a packaging hall (4 500 m2), complete with all the necessary machinery and equipment.
Results
- Thanks to this investment, the cooperative now has a total of six greenhouses on 31.5 hectares, in which tomatoes and cucumbers are grown.
- The new cucumber-growing greenhouse produces a total of 12 million snake cucumbers annually.
- The investment created 80 permanent and many seasonal jobs in the area.
Promoter
Ácsi Thermal- Horticulture Ltd
Funding
<p>Total budget: 15.0 million (EUR)<br>EAFRD: 3.6 million (EUR)<br>National/Regional: 0.9 million (EUR)<br>Private/own: 10.5 million (EUR)</p>
Ressources
Context
The GreenCoop Cooperative is a cross-border, international group of producers whose philosophy is to grow tasty and healthy tomatoes (and now cucumbers) with the smallest possible ecological footprint. For more than 15 years, the organisation has been involved in hydroponic tomato cultivation in Slovakia, where they are market leaders, with the country's largest greenhouse farm. Some 10 000 tons of tomatoes are produced annually in four greenhouses over a total of 20 hectares. In 2019, a member from Hungary, Ácsi Thermal-Horticulture Ltd., was added to the cooperative, making it the first (and still the only) cross-border international grouping of producers in the region. Their greenhouse, located in Győr, Northwestern Hungary, sits on a five-hectare area, where 2 000 tons of tomatoes are produced annually.
Across the whole cooperative, the state-of-the-art greenhouses - operated with Dutch technology - use only biological plant protection products, geothermal energy for heating, and rainwater for irrigation. Thanks to this, the cooperative produces 15 000 tons less carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional greenhouse producers of a similar size. Thus, they manage to ensure that the environment is not burdened by the cultivation of their vegetables. Slovakia's Csallóköz area and Hungary's Kisalföld area are both known for having good climatic conditions for producing vegetables, with good quality water for irrigation and up to 2 000 hours of sunshine a year. In order to achieve the best flavours, varieties are carefully selected and tested for at least a year, and, because the producers want to preserve the true taste of the tomatoes, they do not use artificial lighting. As such, their ‘Cheerful Tomatoes’ are only available in stores from the end of February to November.
In 2024, Ácsi Thermal-Horticulture Ltd. increased its greenhouse area to 31.5 hectares, opening a new 6.5-hectare greenhouse in which only snake cucumbers are grown.
Objectives
The aims of this investment were to grow the cooperative’s market share, create new job opportunities, and boost revenues by increasing the range of vegetables produced.
Activities
Construction started in February 2023 and was completed in February 2024, with the first cucumber harvesting taking place as early as April 2024. The construction was implemented as a green field investment, and, in addition to the 6.5-hectare greenhouse, an office building and a packaging hall (4 500 m2) were built, and all the machinery and equipment acquired. Dutch technology is used for cultivation, and machines from several European manufacturers were purchased for sorting and packaging.
For an overall total investment of HUF 6 billion, a total of HUF 1.8 billion CAP support was received, which was spent on the greenhouse construction, the well renovation, the work inside the greenhouse, the mechanisation, and the packaging hall construction.
Main results
- The new greenhouse operates with modern Dutch technology, similar to the other five greenhouses. It also relies upon biological plant protection, geothermal energy for heating, and photovoltaic panels to generate the energy required. Irrigation is carried out using collected rainwater, and, as a result, 98% of the greenhouse's energy needs come from renewable sources.
- The new cucumber-growing greenhouse is planted with cucumbers twice a year. A total of about 335 500 stems are planted, and thus a total of 12 million snake cucumbers are harvested annually.
- With the opening of the greenhouse, 80 new permanent jobs were created in the region, and dozens more seasonal workers are employed during the picking season.
Key lessons
- The application system for CAP support works quite well in Hungary, and the company already has a lot of good experience with it. However, there is still a lot of bureaucracy and the time to receive the approval can be very long. As a result, it can take years to implement a project.
- Finding the necessary workforce was quite difficult. Cucumber cultivation requires intensive work, and the harvest needs to be done over a six-day working week. This can be burdensome for employees. In the beginning, many people left the job after only a short while, which was expected, but it didn’t take long for the team to stabilise, and currently the company operates in such a way that, during busy periods, their own staff teams are supplemented by temporary workers of mixed nationalities.
We are growers who enjoy growing plants and who have decided to continue the traditions of our ancestors. We are guided by a simple inner conviction, according to which ‘the customer should always receive safe food, the highest quality and the best flavours.
Imre Balogh