Keeping growers growing

Australian glasshouse insurance and global grower network

Bulletin 03 juil. 2026

Protected cropping industry Australia: keeping growers growing through international collaboration.

Bringing global protected cropping expertise to Australia through Achmea Farm Insurance and Hagelunie

Australia’s protected cropping sector is entering an exciting phase of growth, with investment in robotics, automation and AI transforming how large glasshouse operations are designed and managed. These advances create new opportunities, but they also introduce new risks, particularly as construction complexity increases and climate volatility intensifies.

Against this backdrop, Hagelunie Managing Director Wim van Esch and Gertjan Prins, International Marketing & Business Development Manager at Hagelunie, recently travelled to Australia to meet growers, tour leading glasshouse facilities and connect with the local Achmea Farm Insurance team.

Their visit underscored a clear message: international collaboration and knowledge exchange is key to helping the sector stay resilient, innovative and competitive.

“As a protected cropping sector, what we do well is share knowledge and learn. That is how you improve risk management practices and keep businesses moving,” Wim said.

A cooperative model built for crossborder collaboration

Achmea Farm Insurance and Hagelunie are part of the Achmea Group, a cooperative international financial services provider with origins dating back to 1811 in the Netherlands. Founded by farmers and based on solidarity to help each other when a farmer had a haystack fire. Achmea now supports more than 13 million clients globally, driven by its purpose of Sustainable Living. Together.

Hagelunie operates as a specialist greenhouse insurer in the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany and other major growth markets, and provides greenhouse reinsurance to Achmea Farm Insurance in Australia. This global footprint strengthens reinsurance capacity and supports competitive pricing for local growers.

“For Hagelunie, expanding internationally helps spread risk, increase reinsurance capacity and keeps the greenhouse sector insurable. Ultimately, that benefits growers across borders,” Wim explained.

Insights from Australia’s most advanced protected cropping operations

During their visit to Australia, Wim – who helped establish Achmea Farm Insurance in Australia in 2012 – and Gertjan met with growers across multiple states, alongside the Australian-based Achmea Farm Insurance team.

They visited some of the country’s most advanced glasshouse operations adopting:

robotics and automated crop management systems
solar and energy efficiency technologies
next-generation glasshouse design and climate control

Their visit highlighted both the rapid progress within Australia and the sector’s growing need for global expertise, especially in engineering, prevention and major-loss response.

Why a global network matters in the protected cropping sector

Hagelunie’s expertise in global greenhouse horticulture is grounded in prevention and operational continuity. Together, Achmea Farm Insurance and Hagelunie provide Australian large-scale operators with local support backed by international insights from engineering discussions to specialised insurance of glasshouses.

This partnership offers a comprehensive approach; from risk prevention and engineering conversations to specialised glasshouse insurance.

“Understand the business and risks first, then accept, avoid or mitigate the risk, and finally, insure the residual risk,” Gertjan explained.

This prevention-first model supports growers investing in new technologies, where early risk identification is essential.

Designing glasshouses for tomorrow’s weather

From Northwest Europe to Australia, weather volatility is changing glasshouse design standards worldwide. Heavier rainfall, larger hailstones, and stronger winds mean new glasshouses must withstand more demanding conditions.

Hagelunie uses claims data and engineering insights to inform technical committees in the Netherlands, helping to update design standards and improve structural performance internationally.

These learnings, in turn, will continue to flow into the Australian market through Achmea Farm Insurance.

“We need to keep strengthening greenhouse designs to meet new climate realities,” Wim said.

A two-way exchange of knowledge

Achmea’s cooperative model helps to connect growers with a broad international network, including engineers, specialist loss adjusters, suppliers, and research partners.

“Growers value speaking with people who truly understand their operation,” Gertjan said. “And if we don’t have the answer, we can usually connect them in the industry with someone who does.”

Insights from the Australian visit, such as localised modelling, maintaining onsite spares and detailed business continuity planning, will be shared with teams in Europe, contributing to a continuous global learning loop.

A partnership approach for large operators

For glasshouse businesses, Achmea Farm Insurance and Hagelunie offer more than insurance. They provide a partnership focused on prevention, rapid response and global capability.

A recent example from Australia involved Dutch loss specialists coordinating with Netherlands-based greenhouse suppliers overnight to source and ship parts immediately, minimising downtime and protecting cash flow.

“There’s only one moment of truth in insurance; when there’s a loss. That’s when fast action matters,” Wim said.

“Combine that with strong relationships focused on knowledge sharing and prevention, and you create real value,” Gertjan concluded.