P Besuijen purchasing a new Toyota electric forklift for a special price.

A cauliflower grower was the first to buy a new Toyota electric forklift under a central purchase project between The Greenery and Toyota Industrial Equipment Netherlands (TIEN).

The Greenery is a Dutch distribution, sales and marketing company for fresh produce. It is owned by horticultural cooperative Voedings Tuinbouw Nederland (VTN). Around 2,500 VTN member growers sell their produce via The Greenery.

P Besuijen, a cauliflower grower and VTN member from Koudekerke, Netherlands, replaced his Toyota diesel forklift with a new Toyota 7FBEF electric forklift at a "good price".

"Harvesting cauliflowers is still done by hand. Every morning we only cut the right sizes in the field and in the afternoon they are transported directly to The Greenery. From there they are transported to different distribution centres," he said.

"The forklift is used mainly for loading and unloading crates and this is done eight times a day for around 25 minutes. This doesn't sound like much, but without a forklift we would have a big problem, the whole lot would grow stale," Besuijen said.

TIEN spokesperson Felice Olsman said the central purchase project was beneficial to farmers but would not say what discount they received on forklifts.

"Because The Greenery buys in larger quantities, they get a good price," she said.

Only growers who plant vegetables in glasshouses are entitled to participate in the central purchase project, which ends on December 31, 2006.