Gronos A new way of cultivating. A tomato plant adapted to fit perfectly into an indoor farming environment, so you can get the most out of your Gronos system. Controlled, year-round. Fully automised and barely any need for labour. Without daylight and with an incredible yield and fantastic quality. Water-efficient and without the use of pesticides. Growing tomatoes autonomously on a commercial scale. Gronos is revolutionising indoor farming. Keep me posted Higher yield The optimal conditions for every crop. A tomato plant adapted to suit this indoor farming environment perfectly. The result: never-seen-before yields of high quality tomatoes with minimal pesticide use. Labour efficient A tomato plant that doesn’t need any manual actions, from seed to harvesting. And a smart infrastructure with full integration of internal logistics and robotisation, including a harvesting robot, for maximum labour efficiency. Year-round A dark winter day in the north of Finland or a boiling hot day in the desert of the USA, Gronos grows a predictable yield of high-quality and tasty tomatoes year-round. Truly growing anything, anywhere. Meet Gronos Meet Gronos Play video Close Play 00:00 About the system Creating the perfect balance Using our many of experience in developing cultivation concepts, we have now engineered a fully automated indoor farm called Gronos. Gronos can be controlled remotely, allowing you to make changes to the environment in just a few clicks. And with tried-and-tested growing recipes, the system will guide you in getting the most out of your high-tech indoor farm. Crops are given the optimal amount of light, water and nutrients at the perfect temperature and humidity. Which is why the Certhon Gronos can grow more, faster. And without pesticides and significantly less water and waste, which is great for the environment. The system is fully automated. Crops move to where they need to be, sensors collect data with an astounding level of precision, and a computer controls and adjusts the growing conditions. Even harvesting is done automatically using an integrated machine. And you know exactly what output to expect. About the plant Breaking the rules We have spent years developing a tomato plant that could thrive in an indoor farming environment. Many tests of different varieties have been run, an intense collaboration between our agronomists and R&D specialists. And we have succeeded. The tomato plants grows from seed to harvest-ready within 15 weeks, with all stages happening inside Gronos. Its brix, which tells us about the taste and quality, is high due to the optimal and consistent climate it grows in. Due to the shape of the plant, significantly less intervention is necessary. No need for cutting leaves or wrapping the plant around wires, saving in time and money. And with more plants on fewer square meters, you can count on significantly higher and predictable yields. Great tomatoes, whenever you want. Unique elements Every element of Gronos has been engineered through strong collaboration between our many departments within Certhon: Fully automised The crops move through the indoor farm automatically, using machines and robots. Sowing, transplanting into gutters, spacing, and harvesting can all be done by Gronos itself. Water-efficient The climate system within Gronos works in a sustainable manner. Water evaporates from the plants into the air, but that is not lost. Instead, air cooled down, so the water returns to its liquid from and is brought back to the irrigation system. In the irrigation system, the level of nutrients is tested and supplemented to optimise plant growth. Warmth withdrawn from the air, for the condensation process, is returned to keep the correct climate. Data-driven Since Gronos is closed, the system can measure parameters like transpiration and CO2 levels to an extremely accurate level. Having this kind of data with an astounding level of precision means you have great insight into how the plant is behaving. And how to let it perform at its full potential. “Ingenuity and innovation are the core of our mission. We have been reinventing cultivation systems for decades. Combining smart technology, agronomy and the philosophy that you need all disciplines under your own roof is our recipe for true and sustainable success. That makes us different, and we are proud of it.” John van der Sande Co-founder and CIO Certhon Growth Guarantee Results count. We give you added assurance with our Growth Guarantee in every growing environment we create. Plant Guarantee The optimal conditions for every crop. The pre-calculated harvest yield, possibly with the quality and nutrients we have tested in advance. The result: optimal growing performance with minimal pesticide use. Technical Guarantee In the Certhon Innovation Centre we create a set-up simulating your growing environment. Our research helps you to choose the best variety. We test this in combination with types of light, climate, irrigation methods and optimum integration of logistics and robotisation. So that you know exactly what output to expect. Labour Guarantee A smart infrastructure and optimum integration of internal logistics and robotisation for maximum labour efficiency, both in production and in research environments. Yield as a service As the supplier of one of the most advanced cultivation systems available in the world today, our next step will be to launch Yield as a service – freshly grown produce from farms on your doorstep. Locally grown, locally harvested and locally sold. Your own greenhouse or indoor farm close to your company and customers, run and managed for you. From cultivation to final harvesting. Guaranteed local supply, high quality and adequate volume. You get exactly what you want, how you want it and where you want it. This is the future for the true trailblazers in food, hospitality, transport and other sectors who understand that local, fresh and healthy is the new norm, but don’t want to get involved in cultivation themselves. As far as we are concerned, that future starts today. We have what it takes to realise your ambitions and rise to the challenge. Projects We make the impossible, possible. World’s first commercial scale indoor farm for growing fresh tomatoes, in the desert Madar Farms, Abu Dhabi Learn more One of the most high-tech research facilities ever built within the sugar industry SESVanderHave, Belgium Learn more Next level in research activities Rijk Zwaan with modern growth chambers Rijk Zwaan, The Netherlands Learn more Interested? Curious about the results we could achieve for you? Our international team would love to assist you. We look forward to hearing from you. Edwin Vanlaerhoven Business Development Director (CBDO) Martin Veenstra Sales Consultant