Lovett Family Farms & VHM – testimonial
26 September 2022Daniel Lovett, Lovett Family Farms – Ashburton (NZ)
“VHM is ‘just quality’; you know it’s always gonna work properly, with the high-standard machinery they developed themselves. VHM are really standing behind it, as well as it comes to service or whatever it needs to be done”.
The Lovett Family Farms is run by Daniel & Emily Lovett and his parents Greg & Joanne Lovett, together with 16 full-time staff members. With their ambition to be the leading agricultural company in their field, they produce and deliver the highest quality crops on the 1000ha farm. They have the entire process surrounding onion cultivation in-house, from planting and harvesting to storage, packaging and exporting all over the world. As environmentally conscious leaders in agricultural technology they have found a strong match with VHM Machinery from The Netherlands.
About four years ago they imported the first VHM TwinFilr to significantly increase the storage and processing capacity in their new packhouse. “We didn’t look any further. VHM was the first to develop this machine and has an excellent reputation when it comes to quality”. Since then, the machinery has been expanded even further and a lot of ‘VHM-orange’ has been added to the packhouses. The BigbagFilr, EvenflowTipr and various supply belts all come from the same family and also work excellently with the other machines in the packhouse.
Thanks to the plug-and-play and easy-to-operate machines, box & bigbag logistics have been optimized and simplified. What means you can do more work with the same number of staff. Which is one of the biggest challenges at the moment, just like in the rest of the world.
And what if you buy machines from a manufacturer on the other side of the world with a time difference of day and night? Daniel: “That has never been a really issue. Technical solutions nowadays make it possible to bridge the distance, just as if you were on site. We have camera’s installed in the packinghouse on which the VHM mechanics can log in and watch live with the working machines. In a joint whatsapp group, our people can have direct contact with the VHM mechanics about technical issues. Moreover, I’d rather have direct contact with someone overseas who knows the machine 120%, than a dealer or someone locally who has a little bit of knowledge of a large number of different machines”.
A nice side effect is the Grillr (the VHM barbecue) he received as a gift with his TwinFilr order. “Together with my great team we always find an opportunity to light the barbecue, because a good collaboration can certainly be celebrated”.
Two weeks ago Daniel got to Europe to visit the Potato Europe Expo in Germany. Before he traveled off, he announced “If the travel schedule allows, I will definitely stop by VHM to meet you again and to discuss our future plans and dreams”. And so he did. Thanks for your visit Daniel, know that you are always welcome!
Also take a look at Lovett Family Farms’ beautiful website:
