Commercial strawberry greenhouse procurement — start from your yield target
Size a strawberry project from the yield target and the growing system. Indicative annual marketable yield runs roughly 3–7 kg/m² in a basic tunnel, 7–12 kg/m² on medium-tech tabletop substrate systems and 12–18 kg/m² in a high-tech greenhouse with climate control and, where used, supplementary lighting. Strawberry is a cold-chain crop, so pre-cooling, packing and grading belong in the same RFQ as the structure.
Strawberry procurement fails most often on two lines: the tabletop growing system is quoted vaguely, and the post-harvest cold chain is left out entirely. Both decide whether fruit reaches the market at class one.
Start from the yield target, convert it into area, plant population and water demand with the planner, then tender the structure, tabletop system, fertigation and cold chain as one defined scope.
Start from your strawberry yield target
Enter the annual tonnage you need and the technology level you can realistically operate. The planner derives an indicative area, plant population and water demand, and carries the whole configuration into the supplier-neutral RFQ Builder.
Yield band 7–12 kg/m²/year
Mid-band area plus 12% circulation and technical space
8–14 plants/m² planning density
30–60 litres per kg of produce
Elevated gutter tabletop system on substrate, motorised ventilation, climate computer and recirculating fertigation. Ergonomic harvesting and better fruit hygiene.
- Structure with gutter height suited to tabletop working level
- Tabletop gutter system with height, spacing and slope defined
- Motorised ventilation, shading and cooling strategy for the design day
- Substrate slabs or channels, gutters, drain collection and drain-water analysis points
- Fertigation unit with EC/pH control, dosing channels, mixing tanks and recirculation
- Irrigation network: filtration, mainline, dripper lines, pressure compensation
- Drain collection and recirculation with disinfection
- Pre-cooling and cold-store capacity sized to peak daily harvest
Indicative planning figures only — no yield, cost or performance guarantee. Your agronomist and the qualified suppliers you select confirm the final design.
Strawberry yield planning bands by technology level
Planning bands drawn from widely published commercial protected-cultivation practice, used to size a tender. They are not a guarantee — genetics, climate, water quality, agronomy and management decide the outcome. Cycle pattern: Either a single long everbearer cycle of roughly 8–10 months, or two junebearer cycles per year depending on variety and climate.
| Technology level | Indicative annual yield | What it typically includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic tunnel / soil or low tabletop | 3–7 kg/m²/year | Poly tunnel with soil or simple raised beds and drip irrigation. Lowest CAPEX and highest exposure to rain, heat and disease. |
| Medium-tech tabletop substrate | 7–12 kg/m²/year | Elevated gutter tabletop system on substrate, motorised ventilation, climate computer and recirculating fertigation. Ergonomic harvesting and better fruit hygiene. |
| High-tech climate-controlled greenhouse | 12–18 kg/m²/year | Full climate control with heating, screens, humidity management, drain recirculation and, where the market justifies it, supplementary LED lighting for out-of-season production. |
Agronomy fixed before any supplier is contacted
- Variety class: everbearer or junebearer, and the resulting production calendar
- Plant material type — tray plants, frigo or fresh runners — and the supplier
- Growing system: soil, raised bed or tabletop substrate, with row spacing
- Pollination plan, since strawberry depends on it for fruit shape
- Harvest window and daily peak harvest volume, which sizes the cold chain
- IPM strategy and the screening it requires
Site data every bidder must receive
- Climate data with the design outside condition and winter minimum
- Water analysis, since strawberry is sensitive to sodium and chloride
- Electrical capacity, especially where cooling or lighting is planned
- Distance to market and the transport format for the cold chain
- Local code wind and snow loads
What the strawberry RFQ must cover
Every bidder should answer the same lines. When one supplier prices a structure and another prices a production system, the comparison is meaningless — this is the scope that makes proposals comparable.
Structure and growing system
- Span, gutter height and loads including the tabletop system load
- Tabletop gutter type, height, spacing, slope and drain collection
- Substrate type and volume per running metre
- Covering with light transmission and diffusion stated
Climate and humidity
- Effective ventilation area after screen derating
- Cooling strategy and capacity at the design condition
- Humidity and dew-point control, which drives Botrytis risk
- Heating capacity for early or late production windows
Water, fertigation and cold chain
- Water treatment, storage and pump station
- Fertigation with EC/pH control, recirculation percentage and disinfection
- Forced-air pre-cooling capacity matched to peak daily harvest
- Cold rooms, grading, punnet filling, labelling and dispatch area
Commercial and handover
- Transport, offloading and installation scope
- Commissioning, training and as-built documentation
- Warranty per component group and cold-chain equipment service
- Spare parts for nozzles, sensors, gutters and cooling equipment
Where strawberry quotations most often go wrong
- Cold chain excluded, so class-one fruit is downgraded before it reaches the buyer
- Tabletop system quoted without stating gutter type, spacing or substrate volume
- Humidity and dew-point control omitted, raising Botrytis losses
- Supplementary lighting priced without the grid connection or transformer it requires
- Plant material and pollination left out of the project plan and budget
Financing note
SeedMatchGroup is not a bank, lender, credit provider or financial adviser, and quotes no rates, approvals or commitments. Where a qualified commercial project requires funding, it may be introduced to independent third-party financing providers, who control all eligibility, pricing and decisions.
Strawberry procurement questions buyers ask
SeedMatchGroup is an independent, supplier-neutral procurement platform. It does not manufacture, engineer, install or guarantee agronomic performance. Yield, water and plant-density figures on this page are planning bands used to size a tender — the qualified independent suppliers, agronomists and contractors you select confirm the final design and any performance commitment.
The definition checklist that makes proposals comparable in the first place.
Section-by-section specification structure for a professional tender.
What actually moves CAPEX per m² — country, crop, loads, climate strategy, automation.
CAPEX, energy, water, labour, replacement and cost per kg over the asset life.
Normalise price per m² and flag missing scope across up to three quotations.
Crop, climate, area, growing system and automation defined step by step.
Normalise ventilation, cooling, humidity and water/energy OPEX before price.
One structured scope sent to qualified suppliers, so every proposal is comparable.