What started 33 years ago as a bumblebee farm and a greenhouse full of tomatoes has grown into a worldwide business. Today, Biobest has breeding centers in Mexico, Morocco, the US as well as the Kempen region of Limburg in Flanders. The multinational from Westerlo employs 1,600 people at its 12 production sites around the world and recorded an annual turnover of EUR 150 million. Its impressive growth track even earned the company Flanders Investment & Trade’s 2018 Export Lion Award in the category 'Companies with 50 or more employees'.

Climate-controlled chambers and greenhouses in the breeding centers are used exclusively for growing tiny mites, slightly larger insects, and bumblebees. “We use the bumblebees to pollinate plants in greenhouses in a natural way,” says CEO Jean-Marc Vandoorne. “The others are used to combat pests.”

Biobest is just one example of Flanders’ thriving agribusiness ecosystem. Belgium’s northern region is home to a variety of agricultural firms and is a major R&D hub in the field of green biotechnology, where sustainable and eco-friendly solutions reign supreme. What’s more, Flanders is considered a leader in intensive farming. Strategic research centers imec, VIB, VITO and Flanders Make, for example, are the driving forces behind a wide range of precision farming and farm automation innovations.