CMO Updates; A new perspective for October

We thought we would provide you with a slightly different perspective for this month’s update. As CMO, it’s a pleasure to take you through some of our highlights from the last month.?

As is typical with our ever growing company, October was another busy month. I attended two important conferences with our CEO, Dr. David Meszaros, in Budapest, Hungary. In addition to taking part in the ELTE University Success Event, SMARTKAS played a key role at the CEE4Impact Day with David moderating an insightful discussion on the impact of the current geopolitical landscape on the food industry. It was wonderful to see and hear such an engaged panel and audience on a topic so important for the growth of our future and one SMARTKAS remains fully committed to.?

As you may know, Budapest is our CEE headquarters and home to our robotics and AI team so we are increasingly spending more time there as a team. The office is located in the city’s greenest building, and I’m enjoying seeing firsthand the development of our IPs, spending more time there growing the team and even learning a little Hungarian.?

Last month, I met and tested our latest strawberry picking robot. In the past our industry has struggled with the automation picking process for strawberries because they require cutting at a specific point on the stem. That challenge will very soon be a thing of the past - at least for us at SMARTKAS. I spent some time with the team, trialing the new tech and I’m pleased to report, it is progressing well.?

Back at home in our Amsterdam headquarters, we welcomed several important delegations to our facility. We had the pleasure of showing a judging panel for the Entrepreneur of the Year prize around our smart farm. The jury was a mix of industry leaders from a number of different industries and we thoroughly enjoyed showcasing the progress we have made in the two years since we moved to Fokker Logistics Park. It’s often easy to get caught up in the day to day hustle and bustle and not look back and appreciate what has been achieved. But seeing our progress through the eyes of those not yet familiar with the SMARTKAS story was rewarding. We look forward to hearing the results of the prize in December.?

Our COO, Wim Roosens, also welcomed a delegation of visitors from the UK, showing the Rt. Hon. Ranil Jayawardena MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Joanna Roper, British Ambassador to the Netherlands, around our smart farm facility. The party were in the Netherlands exploring cutting edge technology and ideas to take back to the UK as part of the country’s plan to revolutionize the British farming industry.?

Though sadly with all of the recent changes in UK government over the last few months, Mr. Jayawardena is no longer in the same position, several days after his visit, he announced a ￡12.5m investment package for glasshouses and vertical farms in the UK. The investment shows growing confidence in the smart farm industry and its ability to help solve some of the biggest food issues globally. I was particularly pleased to see SMARTKAS playing such a critical role as a thought leader in this new and exciting industry.?

At SMARTKAS, it's always planting and harvesting season and October was no different. Our strawberry test facility produced its latest yield of delicious strawberries, which were promptly enjoyed by everyone who had patiently watched them grow. Next month, everyone will also be able to enjoy our lettuce crop after the new lettuce seedlings were planted in our large growing cells.?

Until next time!