CO₂ Emissions Compensation Certificate 2023 obtained!

At Expertisebureau HDG B.V., we are committed to making a positive impact on the environment. We believe that businesses have a responsibility to operate in ways that minimize their carbon footprint and contribute to a greener future. 

Our participation in the Clean Advantage program aligns perfectly with this ethos, allowing us to offset our carbon emissions and invest in projects that promote environmental conservation.

Receiving the CO₂ Emissions Compensation Certificate for 2023 is a testament to our ongoing efforts in sustainability. It reflects the dedication and hard work of our team members who have been instrumental in implementing eco-friendly practices throughout our operations.

At the end of May, Alexander Veltman (our colleague from Fruitify Experts) and Jarnick Vroeginderweij visited the citrus and avocado region of South Africa. Our journey started with a visit to ZZ2, an avocado farm. The ZZ2 brand is a well-known icon in South Africa and is owned by the Van Zyl family who started their farming activities over a hundred years ago. After the covid period it was time to visit them again. Successfully. We've seen the whole process from planting new trees to harvesting and packing the avocados that are ready to ship.

During the other days of our trip we visited a number of citrus delivery companies: Core, Deona, Fruit One and Letaba. We got a look behind the scenes at all these shipping companies. For example, we visited the orchard where the fruits are picked and we also looked at the packing and sorting process in the warehouse. In short, a successful and inspiring trip.

On 1 August, HDG The Fruit consultants celebrated its 40th anniversary. With founder and owner Otto de Groot - who handed over the daily management to Stijn Verstijnen and Rob Boogmans in 2016 - we look back on and ahead to the company that has experienced substantial growth, with the fixed constant that it has always been active from the Rotterdam Merwehaven area in the field of expertise and quality inspections of fruit and vegetables.

The  HDG team thanks Otto for all his dedication and leadership over the past 40 years. For a complete story regarding the 40 years existence of HDG visit freshplaza.com:
https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9341721/we-have-reached-our-current-market-position-thanks-to-the-combination-of-inspections-and-expertises/

Stijn Verstijnen succesfully finished the course to become a NIVRE Register Expert

With Stijn Verstijnen becoming a NIVRE Register Expert, HDG secures the quality it provides to its customers for today and in the future.

Today we celebrate at HDG that Yvonne Meijer – van Aken is with the company for 12,5 years. 

We are happy that our dear colleague Yvonne is still working with us, already for 12,5 years now. As employee facility she keeps HDG operational in multiple ways. From making lunch to ordering office supplies and supporting administration. We are still very glad that Yvonne is working with us.

HDG the fruit consultants extends its ISO 9001:2015 certification. HDG has been the first survey/quality inspection company in the fruit and vegetable sector in the Netherlands to be ISO 9001:2015 certified. 

The ISO 9001 certification assesses whether an organization meets the requirements of both customers and the organization itself, as well as laws and regulations applicable to the product. The various components of the certification are proper guidelines for establishing and setting up a Quality Management System.

In collaboration with researchers from Wageningen University & Research lead by Dr. Theo van der Lee and Dr. Lydia Meesters, HDG evaluated a prototype of an innovative plant imaging platform that could be implemented in our quality control process, the PathoScreen. 

The PathoScreen is a camera system for imaging plants, fruits or vegetables using chlorophyll fluorescence, multispectral, color and detection of fluorescence related to plant cell damage. It provides a detailed, clear and high-quality image, that allows non-invasive, non-destructive and remote detection in fruits or vegetables.