Dutch company EsBro is planning a 150,000-square-meter (490,000-square-feet) greenhouse for growing organic tomatoes for export on the outskirts of Grindavík in Southwest Iceland, creating 125 jobs. The plans for the greenhouse, which will be the size of 20 football fields, is in the final stages.
Archive photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.
“We are convinced that the greenhouse will happen,” Michael Veisser, the company’s representative, told visir.is. The project is estimated to cost ISK 5-6.5 billion (USD 42-54 million, EUR 31-40 million).
EsBro has already reached an agreement with suppliers in the U.K., who, among other vendors, provide the 6,300-store chain Tesco with products.
The company’s residents held a meeting with the inhabitants of Grindavík on Thursday. Locals are concerned about light pollution but Veisser said measures to counteract light pollution will be taken.
“We will try and cooperate with Grindavík inhabitants as much as we can—it’s for the interest of both parties,” he commented.
Others who have raised concern are Icelandic tomato farmers, who reason it will be tough to compete with EsBro on the local market in case export doesn’t work out.
Related:
10.10.2013 | Tomato Farmers Worried about Giant Greenhouse in Iceland
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