The horticultural cooperatives annually allocate a substantial budget to scientific and applied research, actively looking for innovation and improvement.
This is done in collaboration with different research institutes and testing centres. Concrete initiatives include: developing sickness resistant varieties, increasing storage time without loss of quality, automatic monitoring of diseases and pests during cultivation, precision horticulture, biological crop protection and consumer research into the influence of variety choice and cultivation techniques on the taste and appeal of fruit and vegetables.
When it comes to company infrastructure, producers and cooperatives ensure they integrate their business into both the landscape and the community in an economically sound and sustainable way. The cooperatives actively monitor how their activities influence the environment and the communities around their sites. The goal is to reduce any negative impact as much as possible.
The majority of producers aim for a good integration of their business into the environment and the landscape by using, among other things, green screens or by adapting building materials and styles.