Two weeks ago, I was in the Netherlands to visit my family. Our daughter was in the last stage of her Master’s in International Management. After a year of studying, working on tasks in teams and writing her final thesis, the only thing left was the oral exam. After that, it was time for her to say goodbye to the Dutch relatives. Our son and his girlfriend, who have been working in the Netherlands for four years, are leaving in July, moving on to a new things. My mother’s health had been deteriorating the last couple of years and we had to say our final farewell to her during my visit.
Our company is currently seeing a shift in its customer base. Three renowned customers knocked on our door and our plants are on their way in the chain again. Some of them are going to a quality supermarket. They expressed an interest in selling our plants in ceramic pots. Something that’s totally new for our small nursery, where we grow 15 cm bromeliads. Smaller orders, keeping ceramic pots in stock and supplying different colours each season, is a new challenge. The wholesaler wants to sell other quality products in 15 cm ceramic pots as well.
So, we’re busy doing our maths. Which pots are we going to use? How many plants (less) per box? What kind of price is the customer willing to pay? At the same time, we’re talking about growing a 12 cm plant for big box stores and export to the USA. No shortage of ceramic pots in that size. Even if the most popular size in the trade has always been 10 cm plants. But if we want to sell those in ceramic pots, 9 cm would be a better size. We need to spend some more time calculating before we make our final decision.
The flower auction in Mississauga is also in a transition phase. The General Manager who’s been leading the organisation the past five years, went to a different employer on the 1st of July. So, we’re looking for a new General Manager. Not an easy task. A cooperative auction isn’t like any other company. But there’s a person for the job out there and we’re trying our best to find him or her. Luckily, the summer isn’t too extreme this year, we’re getting a bit of rain every now and again. As a result, the grass is still green. The temperatures are mostly comfortable, perfect for working and shopping.
So whether we can speak of silly season… There’s still plenty going on!
Angelle van Kleef
Grower of potted plants, Ontario, Canada
