our new casing soil plant”, says Janssen. Topterra succeeded in taking over HWW, and then ceased the potting soil activities taking place at the site. “We took that decision so we could fully concentrate on casing soil.” Opting for Worpswede soon appeared to be a real master stroke. The volume increased significantly. Initially Janssen thought they would be process- ing around 50,000 m3 of casing annually. That prognosis was quickly discarded: currently some 130,000 m3 of casing soil is produced annually in in Worpswede. The turnover in Germany has quadrupled in the past decade, making Topterra the market leader in Germany.
Celebration in style
This sharp growth was a good reason to really push out the boat to celebrate the 10th anni- versary of the Topterra branch in Worpswede. Suppliers, German customers and the employees were all invited to attend the open day. Treated to delicious food and drink, they could also admire the new processing facility and take a look at the peat extraction site in the neighbour- ing Teufelsmoor, where guests were transported by a small train. The train is normally used to carry the excavated peat to the transloading station. Transporting peat from the bog by train is the best solution, as tractors and trailers would simply sink into the boggy ground.
The weather is the Achilles heel for peat extraction and casing soil production.
The peat bog can supply Topterra with enough raw materials for the coming years. After the area designated by the authorities to HWW for peat extraction had been fully excavated, the future hung in the balance for a while. A political proposal aimed at halting peat harvesting in the designated areas caused a commotion and meant that being granted a new permit to extract peat was virtually impossible. The solution was found in the form of a project designed to regenerate the landscape by linking the depleted peat bogs to the parts of the moor- land still intact in their original state. Part of this project entails creating a gradual transition from the excavated bog to the remaining layer of peat situated around four metres higher. The peat dug out in this process is for HWW. This project is supported by environmental organi-
Suppliers, German customers and employees were invited to join the celebrations at the open day.
The HWW site, where visitors could admire the new processing facility, with piles of peat in the foreground.
MUSHROOM BUSINESS 31
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