Michael Vogel (TenCate): 'I don't understand why we're not moving much faster in the transition to nonfill'

ARTICLE

Hein van Iersel, Tuesday 14 May 2024

278 sec

Sports fields made of 100 percent polyethylene may soon be available

When I close my notebook after an hour and a half interview with Michael Vogel (1964), CEO of TenCate Grass, he says it a few more times: 'Please try to keep the story a bit modest.' However, that is easier said than done, because what TenCate has shown in the past seven to eight years is anything but modest: a fourfold increase in turnover to 1.5 billion dollars, a profit of 200 million in 2023 and rapid growth, particularly in the US.

Michael Vogel, CEO of TenCate Grass

How did that happen? In 2016, Royal TenCate was taken off the stock exchange by private equity firm Gilde Buy Out Partners. The first thing Gilde did was to split the company into five independent units, including TenCate Grass. In September 2021, Gilde sold TenCate Grass to private equity firm Crestview Partners in New York. In December 2023, a third private equity firm, Leonard Green & Partners, in turn acquired the shares of TenCate Grass from Crestview. Michael Vogel, who previously worked at another Gilde company, was asked to take on the role of CEO in 2016. What followed was a private equity success story. Vogel: 'In 2016, TenCate Grass was a company that focused on manufacturing grass yarns, mainly for sports and mainly in Europe.' In 2024, TenCate is much more broadly active, or, as Vogel puts it: 'TenCate has integrated forward as an installer of artificial grass.' The group is also very active in the rapidly growing landscape market and America is now the largest market. Vogel makes a global estimate: 40 percent of the turnover comes from the old activities such as the sale of yarns. Sixty percent of the turnover is generated further down the chain. So for example as a contractor of sports fields.

America

Vogel: 'We knew of course that America is a big market, but we were actually barely present there. It turned out that the American market is even bigger than we thought based on the market research. Americans are of course very sports-minded. Sports are organised differently there than here and are mainly concentrated around schools. We now call ourselves the market leader on the American market, perhaps ex aquo with colleague Tarkett. In that development, water was really a decisive factor. Or actually the lack of water. You see the enormous demographic development in America that people are moving much more to the southern states: Texas, Arizona, Utah, those kinds of areas. Areas with high population growth, while there are enormous water shortages. Los Angeles with a population of millions is actually located in a desert. That development has of course helped us. In addition, you also see an enormous development in the application of artificial grass for baseball. Baseball also opted for artificial grass earlier, but then it was only for the infield. Now you see more and more often that the entire field, including the outfield, is made of artificial grass. That is not because the treading is so high there, but because schools also use such a field for all kinds of other activities. In America, a sports field is really the beating heart of a community, where all kinds of gatherings are organized. That development started with American football and you now see the same thing happening with baseball.'

'There is now a second transition: that to non-fill fields; I don't understand why we're not going much faster with that'

Growing fast

The market in which TenCate operates has grown rapidly since the turn of the century. Vogel: 'That started in the late nineties with the third generation of SBR-filled fields. The use of rubber infill was widely embraced by football and American football, two gigantic sports. That meant an enormous boost for the artificial grass industry and led to a huge number of artificial grass fields being constructed in the Netherlands. The Netherlands was truly a leading country in this respect. Now we are faced with the next transition: that to non-fill fields, and I don't understand why we are not moving much faster with that. Non-fill is actually nothing new. In a country like Switzerland, it has actually been the norm for years. In Norway, for example, we are also moving very quickly in this area. But strangely enough, growth is again fastest in America, and then in American football, baseball and soccer.' According to Vogel, these non-fill fields can also be called very competitive. 'You don't have to buy infill or sand and you save enormously on transport and emissions. You also don't need to add infill.'

Centre for Turf Innovation

'Our Centre for Turf Innovation in Nijverdal is important in the development of new fields', says Vogel. 'It is led by Dr. Colin Young. From 2018 onwards, we will be focusing heavily on product development, always with the player at the centre. Of course, new products have to 'tick the boxes', but ultimately the players determine whether a product is a success or not. An important asset of ours is the collaboration with PSV Eindhoven at the Herdgang Academy. We install and test our new products in close collaboration with PSV. The feedback from players and the technical and medical staff is exceptionally valuable. And also super direct, whether it is good or bad.'

'Maybe this year we can install the first sports fields made of 100 percent polyethylene'

ESG

Vogel continues: 'Developments in the field of sustainability are also moving fast. We are very aware of the fact that we work with plastics and that we must strive for a fully circular product. TenCate has been developing ONE-DNA artificial grass for the landscape market for some time through its partner LimeGreen. At the moment, artificial grass mainly consists of two polymers. The artificial grass fibre is made of softer polyethylene and the backing is mainly made of polypropylene. Then everything is bound with latex or polyurethane. Functionally, this gives a field that performs well, but it is difficult to process in recycling. For the landscape market, LimeGreen has been marketing products that consist of 100 percent polyethylene for some time now. Different requirements are placed on an artificial grass field for sports than on a landscape market; that is why this cannot yet be translated one-on-one to sports. It is possible that we will be able to construct the first sports fields consisting of 100 percent polyethylene in the course of this year. This would allow you to take a huge step in the area of ??sustainability. For a complete football field, you are quickly talking about 20 to 30 tons of polyethylene. After a lifespan of, say, ten years, this can be recycled and processed into a virgin-like material. In terms of R&D, the main challenge is that polyethylene plays well and is comfortable on the skin, but it is a challenge to make a PE backing that is sufficiently stable.'

Polyethylene plays well and is comfortable on the skin, but it is difficult to make a stable PE backing

Pure EP

TenCate Grass is a leading market player. However, this does not mean that everything the company touches immediately turns into gold, or rather market success. TenCate was the first to come onto the market with a market-ready non-water hockey field: Pure EP. This development was driven by a call from the international hockey association FIH to develop this type of field. Water fields make spectacular and fast hockey possible. Even slidings remain 'unpunished'. But in many countries where hockey is big, there are enormous water shortages, for example in India, Pakistan, Australia, Spain, Argentina and South Africa. Is it responsible to irrigate fields? And will these countries keep up with the world's top? That is why the FIH sees a transition to non-water fields as an opportunity to further develop the sport of hockey and to meet its sustainability objectives. The 2024 Paris Olympics would be the last major tournament where a water field is played. However, that decision has been postponed, and the 2026 World Hockey Championships in the Netherlands and Belgium will also be played on water fields again. Commercially, Pure EP is already a success in the Netherlands. The first pilot was installed at MHC Weesp in 2023 and several clubs have now opted for this surface.'

This article was previously published on 14 May 2024 on the Fieldmanager website.

TenCate Grass Holding BV

ONE-DNA by LimeGreen

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