Since 2011, Gemüse-Garten Büttelborn from Ried in Hesse has been growing various vegetable crops in the open on an area of around 700 hectares for regional marketing. After all, there are some two million potential customers "on our doorstep".
"Thanks to the short transport routes, we can supply our customers with our products fresh from the field within a few hours of the harvest," says Managing Director Dr. Jirko Stiller. In 2014, the company was fully taken over by Behr AG, which had previously belonged to Geisler. In the same year, Stiller became the main manager at the Büttelborn site.
Jirko Stiller
120 hectares of leeks
Leeks are our largest product and are grown on 120 hectares. We used to plant 120,000 to 130,000 plants per hectare, but now we plant 200,000 plants per hectare in a very confined space. As a result, we now only offer thin stems because selling those is more profitable," Stiller says. At the same time, he says, growing leeks is quite expensive, while at the same time sales are lower. A multiple thrips infestation also caused partial failures.
At a certain point, Stiller said, it was also difficult to retain employees, as people opted to move around in the industry. At the Klein-Gerau site, in addition to a workshop, a processing plant and a new housing complex for seasonal workers, soundproof walls with a large shed also had to be built, as the plant is located in the middle of a residential area.
Leeks are grown on approximately 120 hectares, with up to 500,000 stalks per week being marketed.
Varied vegetable crops
20 products are grown, which include lettuce, mini romaine, iceberg lettuce, broccoli, kohlrabi, carrots, leeks, zucchini, spinach, several varieties of squash Chinese cabbage, radicchio, tuberous fennel, turnips, savoy cabbage, pointed cabbage and celery. White cabbage, red cabbage, savoy cabbage, leeks, pumpkins, zucchini, perennial celery and celeriac are produced under contract farming.
In 2022, Gemüse-Bau Büttelborn also started producing organic produce on 30 hectares; mini romaine, iceberg lettuce, zucchini and spinach. In 2023, the company plans to expand to 65 hectares, adding organic sweet potatoes. The organic farm is managed by Stiller's brother and carries Naturland and Bio aus Hessen certificates. The conventionally produced goods are marketed via the "Gutes aus Hessen" project, among others. Stiller welcomes the fact that the new managing director, Julia Kraushaar, is genuinely interested in regional produce and is investing a lot of work in it.
Annual acreage expansion
In 2015, the area was increased from 260 hectares to 400 hectares, while at the same time a logistics hall was opened in Groß-Gerau with an area of 3,000 sqm. In 2016, the Essenheim site was added, while new accommodations for seasonal workers were built in 2017. This was followed in 2018 by the acquisition of land from the Klostereck estate, which brought an expansion of the production area to 700 hectares, while the logistics hall was extended to 6,000 sqm. In 2019, the company was able to expand its land to the existing size of 800 hectares.
Participants from the 57th Autumn Conference of German Vegetable Growers dropped by to visit the company in Büttelborn.
According to Stiller, the issue of packaging is increasingly problematic: "Just about everything is becoming more expensive, packaging materials included. Now, however, each customer has its own packaging with its own labels. The company has access to six of its own trucks and also offers contract packaging work and like contract work in the field.
"We have a plethora of machines at our disposal, which is why many farmers will ask us to do contract work in the field, or packaging work. This also ensures that our machines are utilized accordingly." 65 permanent employees work for the company, plus up to 400 seasonal workers and other employees. He currently employs only one apprentice, he said, which is likely to remain the case for the time being, as new apprentices are hard to find.
For more information:
Dr. Jirko Stiller
Gemüse-Garten Büttelborn GmbH
Behr AG
Weidengewann 3, 64572 Büttelborn
Logistics hall: Breslauer Straße 9, 64521 Groß-Gerau
Tel.: +49 6152 92 751 16
Fax: +49 6152 92 751 20
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: https://behr-ag.com