CEO Updates: Growing Opportunities

A couple of words from our CEO & Founder:

Hello -?

As many of you already know, life at SMARTKAS is non-stop and I don’t always get the opportunity to share all of our plans as things happen so quickly. I hope this monthly update - the first of many - will help bring you on the SMARTKAS growth journey with us.?

I have just returned from Bermuda where I was fortunate enough to be invited to take part in a month-long Under 30 residency having been featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list last year. It was the first time since the pandemic the magazine had hosted such an event and it was a real honour to participate.?

Forbes hosted daily workshops and activities, and it was great to be surrounded by so many inspiring people, learning and sharing ideas. I met people from all walks of life, including representatives from Bacardi and Grey Goose. I have to admit, being a typical European, I have often struggled with the American perspective of doing business but having spent so much time with so many amazing and successful Americans and Canadians, it has changed my perspective. I admire their straightforward way of conducting business and I really believe SMARTKAS has a huge potential in North America in the future.

Talking of growth, a lot has been happening as we expand the SMARTKAS footprint around the world. Last week, Tess and I spent the week in Hungary signing our new offices in Budapest and meeting key stakeholders for our growing operations there. Our beautiful new offices are located in the greenest building in Hungary, Green House, and are conveniently close to where I typically stay when I am in Budapest, which means I can technically commute between London, Hungary and Amsterdam. The offices will also be home to our 12 highly skilled hard and software engineers, who are currently tasked to work on four very exciting IPs (Intellectual Properties).?

We recently finalised the power supply increase at Fokker Logistics Park in Amsterdam. The total power supply of the installation is set to reach more than three megawatts from multiple energy sources, including over 2,000 solar panels. We’ve managed to achieve this by working with the best in the industry.?

For those of you who are not familiar with our facility in Fokker Logistics Park, it is located minutes from the airport, and is the most secure business park in the whole of Europe. It is also where we will be hosting the first of our tasting events this week. We’ll be showcasing six varieties of lettuce for many of you to see and taste for the first time.?

Our ever-growing marketing team has been working with a local chef to provide the best tasting experience to date. The day also marks the end of a series of test cycles on our fruit and vegetables. Our crop experts have been blown away with the results, which continue to improve with every crop cycle. I cannot wait for many of you to taste all of our hard work! In addition to being given the opportunity to taste our incredible lettuce, our R&D team will also demonstrate our first major intellectual property (IP), more details of which will be revealed on the day.?

I look forward to sharing our next update with you very soon!

- Dr. David Meszaros, CEO & Founder SMARTKAS B.V.