FoodVentures, Lek/Habo and Philips are pleased to announce the agreement for a new project in Samtredia, Georgia. In a new build greenhouse together they will install a full LED toplighting system to grow lettuce year round. Next to this they are aiming to improve crop quality in a sustainable way. The involved parties made the statement official by signing the agreement on June 11th, 2014. The ceremony took place at the GreenTech in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The state-of-the-art greenhouse is supposed to be completed and put in operation by the end of 2014. By that time 884 Philips GreenPower LED toplighting modules will be installed by Philips LED Horti Partner Lek/Habo. The full LED lighting solution is designed to reach a light level of 90 µmol/s/m². With the LED lighting system they intend to produce year-round, and shorten the production cycle.

FoodVentures, a Dutch owned company, develops several greenhouse projects in emerging economies together with Dutch growers. Projects currently under development are based in Ukraine, Turkey and Georgia. These emerging economies should aim for their fair share on fresh production by developing greenhouse projects. FoodVentures believes in a knowledge- and technology transfer from the Netherlands to emerging economies to achieve this goal. They support investors and growers in their investment planning, -decisions, and project execution.

The new facility in Georgia will also become a demo-case for all other potential investors interested in developing the greenhouse industry in Georgia, and the Caucasus region. Though energy prices are relatively low, the big gain is in quality improvement and climate control.