Novarbo – Creating Greener Growth
Novarbo Oy is the leading expert in the field of professional horticulture and greenhouse technology. Our products are suitable for both traditional and organic cultivation. In addition to domestic sales, our export operations cover more than 60 countries.
- Novarbo is an experienced supplier of soil and peat based growth substrates for greenhouse cultivation.
- Novarbo develops and sells fertilisers for organic field and greenhouse cultivation.
- Novarbo has special expertise on manufacturing and development of modern greenhouse technology.
- Our Novarbo cooling system is an award-winning product. Using it the productivity and profitability of a greenhouse can be improved in a more environmentally friendly way.
- In addition to our well-established traditional products, we constantly introduce new products.
- We are developing our products in close co-operation with domestic and international research institutes, professionals in the field, as well as with our customers.
Novarbo Oy is a part of the Finnish Biolan group. In 1994 the professional cultivation activities were still managed by the export department of Biolan. In 2007 the operations were separated into a separate business area. In the same year the Novarbo system and the Novarbo brand were launched in the market. In August 2010 the professional cultivation sector of Biolan was incorporated and merging to Novarbo brand was started.
Values
Friendliness to the environment and sustainable development are not mere words for Novarbo Oy. These are values that are measurable even in the end-products.
The company seeks growth and profitability by respecting nature and honest business practices.
Quality control
The quality of the Novarbo products is controlled in many different ways. At the production line, the quality checks are being performed by the line manager and the automated equipment. Each production batch is tested in the laboratory and the practical applicability of, for example, the substrates is ensured by means of growing tests in the test greenhouse. The quality assurance starts with the raw materials, which are submitted to similar measurements and growing tests as the finished products. Knowledge of the raw materials' properties and long practical experience give certainty that the products are safe and of uniform quality.
In Finland Evira (www.evira.fi) oversees compliance with the requirements of the Fertiliser Act. In addition to the fertilisers, the Fertiliser Act also covers the fertilised growth substrates and the soil conditioners.
Laboratorium
The Novarbo growth substrates are manufactured in the Biolan Oy's factory,which also has a laboratory where the quality control of the Novarbo products is being carried. The used methods of analysis comply with the EN standards. The factory's laboratory implements so-called quick tests for establishing the confirming the uniformity and quality of the products. Other chemical analysises are conducted at an independent third-party laboratory.
During each shift all the production batches will be control sampled for analysis. Quality assurance begins with the raw materials which undergo the same measurements and growth tests as the final products.
Greenhouse
Novarbo products are tested and developed at Biolan Oy's experimental greenhouse that is located in Eurajoki. Growth tests of the products related to quality assurance are being performed in the greenhouse. In addition, the greenhouse enables versatile Research and Development as well as the testing of products under development in actual situations of cultivation
The greenhouse has been divided into three departments; two of them for the cultivation tables and one intended mainly for the cultivation of greenhouse vegetables. The total surface area of the greenhouse is about 300 m². The experimental greenhouse was built in 2001. The greenhouse is equipped with modern technology that enables experimental activities all year round.
Certificates
Biolan Group and Novarbo Ltd. have been granted the ISO 9001 quality certificate as well as the ISO 14001 environmental certificate. Taking care of quality and the environment are of utmost importance in all our operations.
Going green – we develop new environmentally friendly substrates
Novarbo Oy has developed a new eco-friendly growth slab Mosswool for greenhouse cultivation. Mosswool is based on a genuine renewable resource: Sphagnum moss. Sphagnum moss is an ecological and high-quality growing medium. It is rapidly renewable and has many good properties as a growing medium.
The growth slab developed by Novarbo can be composted, and it can replace traditional substrates that are not bio-degradable. The new substrate is based on Sphagnum moss, which is a genuine renewable resource.
Sphagnum moss can be added also to substrate mixtures. These products are marked with a name Mossgrow.
Sphagnum moss brings many advantages for new product ranges, Mosswool and Mossgrow. It works well in modern cultivation, it is antiseptic, the raw material regenerates quickly and the material can be recycled by composting after use.