Always spring with sustainable innovation on home soil

You can no longer do without leafy greens in your salad, on your sandwich or as a garnish. Tasty, healthy and totally on trend. So we count on our crisp salad leaves and fresh basil to be available year-round and not contain any "nasties. And, of course, that our greens don't break the bank. That's what SemperVere understands very well. This innovative startup grows herbs and lettuces from a circular indoor greenhouse in Venlo. On its own soil. Sustainable, healthy and smart.

Founders Thomas Baars (CEO) and Thijs Maathuis (CTO) tell us more: "We grow herbs and lettuces all year round. We do this without pesticides, fossil-free and climate-positive. Thus we offer a sustainable solution for the growing demand for herbs and leafy vegetables."

Fresh herbs and babyleaf: all year round

Thomas: "We converted a vacant 2.5-hectare greenhouse into a closed and fully controlled growing site. Here we now produce more than 1 million plantlets a week, such as basil, chives and mixed babyleaf salad."

Weather or no weather: always a perfect taste

Traditional open-field or greenhouse growers are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with climate extremes, while more and more crop protection products are (thankfully) being banned. As a result, availability and quality are increasingly compromised. Thanks to the closed greenhouse, the company has full control over growing conditions - independent of the weather. "This allows us to steer perfectly for the best taste and crunch experience," Thomas explains. "Herbs like basil have a shelf life of up to 10 days, our babyleafs even up to 3 weeks. We grow year-round on our own soil, and that too at market-based prices," Thijs adds. Indeed, not insignificant.

"So much more than lettuce and herbs alone"

"We are already looking at new locations and opportunities abroad."

Who says basil ...

SemperVere is not sitting still and is working hard on new developments. Thomas: "With support from the LIOF Participation Fund, we are building an innovation hub for new developments and co-creations with partners. In addition, current customer demand far exceeds our capacity, so we are now running a crowdfunding camapgne to substantially expand our cultivation capacity in Venlo. We are doing this through DuurzaamInvesteren.nl. By choosing this financing method, everyone (both private and professional) can benefit from our growth."

Thijs: "We are also looking at new products, such as berries, leguminous and pharmaceutical crops, and new locations, including internationally. We are also investigating how we can use software and hardware optimization to further maximize the efficiency of the farms. We then also want to offer our knowledge to other horticultural entrepreneurs who want to start growing in a circular way."

"Sustainability must be both ecologically and economically feasible"

Tips for other entrepreneurs?

Those Thomas certainly has. One is, "Make sure the core of your idea is right. For us, that is a long-lasting, high-quality product that is affordable and available year-round. Sustainability is a criterion, not a goal in itself. Are you focusing only on sustainability, but not meeting the core of your proposition? Then the market acceptance of your product-or its price-will always come under pressure in the long run. In short, true sustainability must be ecological as well as economic. Only then is it future-proof."