ANYTHING that doesn't add value along the supply chain will disappear, according to Meiny Prins.
Ms Prins is the chief executive officer and co-owner of Priva, a technology company that develops hardware, software and services in the field of climate control, energy saving and water reuse.
Part of the company's footprint includes horticulture which is why Ms Prins was the keynote speaker at the Costa Protected Cropping Australia Conference 2019 on the Gold Coast in July.
She addressed the topic of the challenge of change, suggesting it will be cities which will push food producers to change the way production is done.
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"Quality of life will become more important than economic growth and more cities are pushing this new value," she said.
Ms Prins is an advocate of integrated and sustainable solutions, particularly where food production is concerned.
The idea of Sustainable Urban Deltas stems from that advocacy. The concept is about integrating green belts, where food for a city is produced within urban areas to help solve environmental problems.
It will be continuing advances in technology which will help drive this integration, according to Ms Prins.
"The future is about integrated solutions," she said.
Technology is not the problem; it is the people that are the problem.
- Meiny Prins, Priva
"So if the next grower can be any entrepreneur, investor or even a government, and the customer will be 'the city', and new technology will be cheaper, scalable and available, then other things will become important.
"If we would just adapt all the technology available today, we would not have any problems with our environment.
"Making a profit is not a goal in itself."
But she said it's not easy to think an owner can just change the way he or she runs a business.
"Technology is not the problem; it is the people that are the problem," Ms Prins said.
"We have to cope with people who do not really want to change."
Ms Prins' research and initiatives in this area have been noticed.
The Dutch businesswoman received the first CleanTech Star of the World Wildlife Fund for Priva, which has 16 local offices in 13 countries with more than 450 international installation partners.
Ms Prins said her company aims to help businesses use their natural resources to grow.
She declared the next block of time as being the "century of cities" and that people will create new business models to fit with modern lifestyles.
Ms Prins said the change toward sustainable investments could be observed already.
"Who is investing in oil platforms in the ocean? No one. That's not where the smart money is," she said.
"If family owned companies are helping family owned companies, they will help each other."