Low-Resolution Version of the Christiaens Bulltin 5 Brochure

Cost price:Lowering the cost price can be achievedby working more efficiently. Christiaensis closely involved in several new developments regarding harvesting efficiency. In these companies they haveincreased the harvesting efficiency peremployee by 70% over a longer periodwhilst still retaining the quality. Theyhave also simplified handling and arelooking at ways to improve the logisticsof the harvested crop. Improving theshelf filling can also lower the cost price.By installing a weighing system on thehead-end filler, the grower can optimallyspread the mushroom substrate over thetotal shelf surface which will greatlyimprove efficiency.Energy savings by example can be madeby optimizing the climate control andthe use of heat pumps in combinationwith storage of cold and heat energy inthe earth.Quality:Efficient climate regulation can have apositive effect on the quality of themushrooms. The new 765.e control computer has more than 10 energysaving programmes and a number ofextra facilities which can improve thecrop such as a stimulation phase and co2dope.Composting companies increasingly use adry and wet bulb control. This controlprevents excessive temperature fluctua-tions and maintains stability of the climate. It also helps to prevent the compost from drying out whilst retai-ning optimal quality.Quantity:Increasing scale is also a way of loweringthe cost price. Christiaens has, in coope-ration with a number of customers,developed a range of installations andmachines for a shelf width of 1.600mmand till a length of almost 100m. Theshelf width of 1.600mm is the newstandard for automated harvesting com-panies. The companies who still harvestmanually most often work with shelvesof 1.200mm, because this improves theharvesting efficiency and is ergonomical-ly better. Christiaens has also developeda range of tailor made installations andmachines for this shelf width.The mushroom market has changed significantly in recent years from a growing to arepressing market. The prices are under pressure worldwide but a constant, good quality is still expected. The school of thought is that it would be advisable to lowerthe cost price and improve the production and quality.new developmentsb u l l e t i nc h r i s t i a e n s g r o u p5bulletinchristiaens groupCChristiaens Bulletin M 052006.qxd 28-11-2008 11:21 Pagina 1Funghi D’Oro mushroom farm is a renovation project on an existing mushroom farm with a total growing surface of 3600 m2. Christiaens Controlsdesigned and delivered a complete range of new air handling, control and automatic watering systems. In June 2005, 12 rooms were equipped and putinto operation.The total installation time was 2 months.The production nowadays is 1000 tons of mushrooms a year.The renovationsresulted in a better quality and a higher production according to Romeo Fuser.In 2005 the Christiaens Group started with the renovation of the existing mushroom farm of Funghi di Quero which is part of Consorzio Funghidi Treviso.The renovation of the growing facility consists out of 12 growing rooms of320m2 each. After just 2 months the first room was ready to be filled withcompost and production was started. Total production of this farm is about1000 tons of fresh mushrooms per year according to Giorgio Grespan.The Christiaens Group delivered and installed air handling units, climate control system and automatic watering system. Christiaens also renovated theexisting heating, cooling and steam systems.“The advantages of the new growing rooms are extremely high production yields of premium quality mushrooms. Another benefit was thecook-out process which destroys all unwanted diseases.”funghi d’oroistrana, italychristiaens group I projects I page 2funghi di queroquero, italyCChristiaens Bulletin M 052006.qxd 28-11-2008 11:21 Pagina 2page 3hooymans compostkerkdriel, netherlandsHooymans Compost is a Dutch mushroom substrate producer who has beenin the business since 1988 and produces and ships 2000 tons of phase 3 mush-room substrate.Forced by the strict environmental legislation in the Netherlands HooymansCompost had to make serious investments in order to expand any further.In the past phase 1 compost was trucked in once a week from the distantcompost plant of Fleuren and stored overnight on the outdoor concrete areain between the two tunnel blocks. Odour problems banned any further stora-ge of phase 1 compost outdoor. Therefore, if Hooymans wanted to expandthey had to go fully indoor.After about one year of planning the first building activities started in the fallof 2004. 12 phase 1 indoor tunnels of each 1000 tons and 18 phase 2 tunnelsof each 225 tons were built in about 1,5 year time.The existing phase 2 and 3tunnels will now only be used for phase 3 substrate with a production capaci-ty of about 3500 tons per week.An ingenious system of air controllers was installed, leading the air from the intake through various stages of the process. Several air scrubbers and biofilters treat all the air before it leaves the installation.“The new installation will give us much more flexibility.We used to be able tofill the tunnels only once a week. Now we can fill the phase 2 tunnels all weeklong. Also the fact that we have the phase 1 compost in our tunnels gives usthe possibility to make the exact compost that we require.” Says JanHooymans. “The reason that we chose for Christiaens was obvious.We havealready been working with them since we first started this company”CChristiaens Bulletin M 052006.qxd 28-11-2008 11:21 Pagina 3christiaens group I projects I page 4Mountain View is a mushroom farm in British Columbia which produced andfilled phase 1 compost for their growing rooms.In order to increase the mushroom production there were two ways to go: Increasing the number ofgrowing rooms and keep filling phase 1 compost or shorten the cycle time inthe existing growing rooms by building a phase 2 and 3 tunnel facility and startfilling and casing phase 3 substrate.In 2004 Art and Ron de Ruiter decided to build a Phase 2/3 tunnel facility.Thetime they need, in cooperation with Christiaens, from design to start up wasabout 1 year. The new tunnels were connected to their existing Phase 1 operation by a belt system.The 4 tunnels have a capacity of 200 tons input ofPhase 1 each. Christiaens delivered the building, technical installation andmachinery turnkey.The floor of the the tunnels is a gridfloor and are filled by a filling cassette, anet pulling winch empties the tunnels. The Christiaens air handling unit and CCF control system with manual control take care of a good pasteurization and incubation process.The filling and emptying hall are supplied from fresh air to create overpressure during working hours and for heating the hall during not working hours.Parallel to the start of the phase 3 production they started filling with aChristiaens hydraulic head-end filling machine.The advantages of the whole transition are obvious; lowering the production costs and increasing the productivity and quality.In 2001 Christiaens Controls delivered also the air handling and control systems for 22 growing rooms for Mountain View Mushrooms Ltd.They alsoengineered the central energy systems, which were constructed and deliveredlocally.In September 2005 Fungis started with this project.They built 9 tunnels (size 4mby 35m) for Phase 2 and 3 in a building time of 7 months.The first tunnels werefilled in March 2006.The Christiaens Group supplied the filling spawning and emptying equipment for the 9 tunnels.Fungis sells compost in bulk and in blocks.The company Fungis is 15 years old, theexisting facility has a production capacity of 900 tons Phase 2 per week.The newfacility adds another 300 tons of Phase 3 weekly.“The advantage of the new facility is new technology, ability to keep high hygieneand better control over compost, new equipment and no malfunctions.That is thereason we chose for the Christiaens Group” Paulina Wyszkowska tells us.“Christiaens is also the leading producer in machines for compost known for goodquality.” mountain viewabbotsford, bc, canadafungis spolkamakow, polandCChristiaens Bulletin M 052006.qxd 28-11-2008 11:22 Pagina 4page 5forest fresh mushroomsplettenberg bay, south africaAfter a building time of 6 months Forest Fresh Mushrooms started the new compost facility in June 2005.At the moment they are producing 25 tons of Phase2 per week and they have the possibility to increase the production to 50 tons.For 3 years compost was supplied by others before Forest Fresh Mushroomsdecided to build their new compost yard.The old compost facility of Forest FreshMushrooms was outdated and to small for their growing requirements.They choseto build a compost facility with double capacity to accommodate any future expansion. Because of the limited size of the project, the choice for a spigot floorsystem for Phase 1 and Phase 2 was the most cost effective.Mike Wishart from Forest Fresh Mushrooms: “The biggest advantage of the newfacility is that it allows for a reasonably large margin of error for the variables inPhase 1. In other words, if the water is not right or the recipe is incorrect, thecomposting process can still proceed and the errors can be ironed out to a certain extent with the moderation of air and oxygen being blown through thecompost.Additionally the system produces consistent compost.” “The reason for choosing the Christiaens Group on this project was that theChristiaens Group has the most experience with conditions in South Africa. Wealso had been exposed to the workmanship and proffesional approach Christiaenshas applied to other projects in South Africa. Christiaens also provides backupadvice and has been supportive during our production of compost.” From the end of 2004 until autumn 2005, Baltic has built 10 tunnels with a totaloutput capacity of 300 tons Phase 3 per week.New plans for an expansion of another 14 tunnels to a total of 24 tunnels with atotal capacity of 900 tons Phase 3 per week are already in progress. In this stageBaltic will add a winch on the emptying side with a central conveyor and truckloading system.The Christiaens Group supplied the filling spawning and emptying equipment forthe 9 tunnels. “The next time we’ll choose definitely machines from Christiaensbecause they supply good machines. We chose for quality and price.The Christiaens Group is also known as a good and stable organisation with a lotof knowledge.” Says Kestutis Juscius, owner of the company.baltic champignons,gruzdziai siauliai, lithuaniaCChristiaens Bulletin M 052006.qxd 28-11-2008 11:22 Pagina 5christiaens group I projects I page 6Adelaide Mushrooms is South Australia’s largest mushroom grower with itsoriginal farm at Woodcroft and building an new farm at Monarto.The compa-ny is owned by the Schirripa family.With the commissioning of the new facility built by Christiaens in January, theCompany’s production has risen from 38,000kg to over 60,000kg per week of fresh mushrooms on the current site as the spawn running rooms wereconverted to grow rooms.When the next phase of building is completed at the new farm, the Companywill produce in excess of 140,000 kg per week and it is still intended to maintain its strong quality policy to maximise market return.After completing the Phase 1 bunker composting system,Adelaide Mushroomsembarked on nine Phase 2/3 tunnels, which were linked into the Phase 1 shedby conveyor. It is a complete system, which allows the emptying of Phase 1 direct into Phase 2 in a matter of minutes and then Phase 2 into Phase3 similarly.The facility has a capability of producing up to 420 tons of Phase 3 substrate.The project which was planned from start to finish has the distinct advantageof the whole operation from Phase 1 through to growing will be done insequence and with the minimum of handling. It will be “production line” andas efficient as it can get. Everything will be linked continuously from start tofinish with no man handling, no transport: that is with the minimum of expenseand maximum efficiency.Chairman Douglas Schirripa of Adelaide Mushrooms:“The flooring was all layed by us in readiness, and then the Christiaens groupflew in and were able to complete the total project in 5 months from begin-ning to end with the minimum of fuss and delay.”“It was a giant project to ensure everything was here on time and ready forconstruction.The Christiaens Group are to be complimented on the liaison toensure this all happened like clockwork”“Being so far away from all suppliers way “down under” in Australia, it wasimportant to ensure we were able to get the best possible plant, equipmentand ongoing service.”“More importantly it was the openness of discussion and viewing of theirplans, which gave me the confidence to go with the Group. Al this was donewith confidence in the confidentially of our discussions.”“I would highly recommend their services and would not do it anyother way after this experience” christiaens group I projects I page 6adelaide mushroomswoodcroft, australiaCChristiaens Bulletin M 052006.qxd 28-11-2008 11:22 Pagina 6page 7marina ltd. / teva postmoshav hosen, israelMarina Ltd. expended their compost production with 5 extra Phase 2/3 tunnelsand a completely new Phase 1 facility with the capacity of 800 tons weekly.For the Phase 2/3 tunnels Christiaens supplied the technical installation, grid floors,tunnel nets, engineering and consultancy. It took 6 months to complete this expan-sion.The new Phase 2/3 tunnels are in production since April 2006. The expansionenables the company to supply new mushroom farms with Phase 3 substrate.To make sufficient amount of Phase 1 compost for their own Phase 2/3 facilityMarina Ltd. decided to build a Phase 1 indoor system with overhead filler,3 bunkers and 2 bio filters as well.This project started in October 2005 and will be in production approximately injuly/august 2006. For the Phase 1 facility the Christiaens Group delivered the tech-nical installation, machinery and the doors.The system is especially designed and constructed to meets the requirements ofthe environmental authorities.Tommy Gruenwald of Marina Ltd.:“after long negotiations with several companies,we were convinced that the Christiaens Group could provide us with the mostprofessional and efficient project”Global Progres is a compost facility and growing farm owned by the Münzner company from Germany.The farm has a weekly production of 44 Tons of quality mushrooms harvested inonly 2 flushes. With the new investment they have the potential to increase theproduction to about 60 Tons per week.Prewetting and phase 1 were done the conventional way with rigs and a turningmachine partly indoor and partly outdoor. Global Progres already produced phase2 and 3 compost in 9 small size grid floor tunnels.In order to upgrade the farm and to improve quality and consistency mr. Münznerdecided to invest in a new Phase 1 compost yard and in new phase 2 tunnels.The 9 existing small tunnels can now all be used for phase 3. Christiaens helpeddesigning both installations with the goal of using the new machines both in phase 1 as in phase 2. Also the existing buildings were integrated; the new phase 1 bunkers are build under an existing roof with wooden girders.The phase 2 tunnels are build completely new in order to guarantee a 100% pasteurisation.The Christiaens Group was chosen to deliver all compost handling machines,air handling units, computer controls and do all general engineering for both thebuildings.“Besides having the best offer” there were more reasons to go for Christiaens says mr. Münzner. “The fact that Christiaens is a reliable partner and has all theknowledge to do the general engineering were decisive”.global progrestopolcianky, slowakiaCChristiaens Bulletin M 052006.qxd 28-11-2008 11:22 Pagina 7Christiaens GroupWitveldweg 104 - 106 -1085961 ND Horst - The Netherlandschristiaensgroup@christiaensgroup.comwww.christiaensgroup.comtel. +31 (0)77 399 95 00t h e p o w e r o f c o m b i n e d e x p e r i e n c e© ArtLine | KesselCGB180506projects in progress worldwide 2006Hooijmans Compost BV, The Netherlands Phase II facilityJacobs BV, The Netherlands Expansion 4 growing rooms, turnkeyArya Rooiesh, Iran Expansion 8 Phase I bunkers / 11 Phase II tunnelsWrona, Poland Expansion 8 Phase II/III tunnelsSnowcap, South Africa Phase I/II facilityHighveld, South Africa 6 growing roomsDofe, Hungary 6 growing rooms, turnkeyKriznic, Croatia 6 growing rooms, turnkeyAgrifunghi Soc.Coop. A.r.l., Italy 8 growing rooms, turnkeySocietà Agricola Belfungo s.s., Italy 12 growing rooms, turnkeyMycelco Substrate, Canada 15 Phase II/III tunnels, turnkeyEdelweiss Ltd., Russia 12 growing roomsBio Fungi Kft, Hungary Expansion 8 Phase II/III tunnelsFlixton Mushrooms, England Phase I bunkersApex, Canada 12 growing roomsDavidyan, Israel Phase I facilityChampra, Spain Mixing and filling line Phase 1Champigraja S.C. Spain Head-end filling machine and growing equipmentDelgoe Russia Bunker filling equipmentPeeters Mushrooms Canada Head-end filling machineCChristiaens Bulletin M 052006.qxd 28-11-2008 11:22 Pagina 8