Energy crisis: companies are looking for ways to cut costs, but sustainable solutions are almost exhausted

Storing fruit such as apples and pears and thus keeping them cool requires energy… a lot of energy. At the main location in Meulebeke, fruit and vegetable company Vergro still has old contracts for the time being, which keeps the monthly invoice at 7,000 euros, but that would be 28,000.

The company must already pay that increase in other locations to keep the annual 140,000 tons of fruit and vegetables from growers cool.

Sustainable solutions already used

“Of course we are looking at all options, but solar panels are already installed at all our locations,” says Dominiek Noppe of Vergro. “We are now looking at possibly installing a windmill on our site in Sint-Truiden. We are trying to use all sustainable resources to reduce the bill.”

But in the end, the higher costs are also passed on to the customer: the grower. “The growers now have to decide to put their fruit in cold stores. They have no other choice, but the cooling costs are thirty percent higher than usual. Marketing everything now is not an option either, because the demand is not there yet. “

Energy is also central to Dumoulin Bricks in Roeselare, and that for making bricks. To keep the price down, they limit themselves to the standard sizes. The volume remains the same.