Happy in the tomatoes
Tomato cultivation
Green fingers? No, he didn't have any. Jelmer (26) studied to become a gym teacher. Yet he now stands daily in a greenhouse among tomatoes. A conscious choice he hasn't regretted for a second. "Those kindergarten dances at HALO really didn't make me happy."
It all started with a part-time job when he was 18. "I was in my final year of havo and more people from school worked at Schenkeveld. I liked going out and having a beer, so I wanted to earn money. That's why I started working in tomatoes."
Yet Jelmer did not immediately see a career in horticulture ahead of him. So he went to HALO to become a PE teacher. But even that was not what he was looking for, it turned out
soon. "I kept it up for a year, but those kindergarten dances I had to do didn't make me happy," he says. At the time, Jelmer was still working as a side job at Schenkeveld and could put in more hours in his gap year. "I wanted to start a new study a year later, but also do something useful with my time in the meantime. The more I worked in the nursery, the more work and responsibilities I got. That's when my eyes did open and I saw for the first time that horticulture really did have something to offer me."
Jelmer therefore chose to continue his education in Horticulture & Agribusiness in Delft. "I could also start working at Schenkeveld straight away, but I thought it was important to get an education first. And who knows, I might like breeding or something else much more." Schenkeveld therefore offered to pay for his college studies, leaving Jelmer free to possibly go in a different direction within horticulture after his studies. "But I found out pretty quickly that I just felt very much in place at Schenkeveld. It is a company that is growing and therefore has a lot of opportunities to grow itself."
Eyes opened
After his studies, Jelmer therefore started as a junior cultivation specialist at Schenkeveld's Den Hoorn branch. Already after six months, the addition 'junior' was dropped and he became head of cultivation. "But that didn't mean that I was already fully learned. Cultivation is a game of experience. I did have a paper in my pocket, but actually it was just starting now." Jelmer graduated on the topic of 'Autonomous Cultivation', where he mapped the possibilities for Schenkeveld to eventually steer cultivation more based on data and algorithms. "An interesting development that I am now pursuing," Jelmer indicates. "I don't believe cultivation will be fully automated in the future, people will remain important. But I do think it will help to make even better choices. It's nice to be involved in that as a new generation in the company. And I get all the space I need for that."
Autonomous cultivation
At Schenkeveld, they like to offer people the chance to develop themselves, says Jelmer. "And they also really put a lot of time, energy and money into you, as long as you show that you really want it and take it up yourself enthusiastically. Do you want to get the best out of yourself at an ambitious company? Then this is a very nice and challenging workplace. Also for people like me, who initially had nothing at all to do with horticulture." Jelmer sees himself working at Schenkeveld for many years to come. "Apart from the growth opportunities, it is also just a very nice company. Everyone is very informal with each other, we have all kinds of outings and drinks on Friday afternoons. Everyone knows each other well, it feels like a big family. That's another reason why I enjoy going to work every day."
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