’The question is: how much longer will the orchid remain trendy?’
The director of Sion, Eric Moor, is a traveller. And wherever he goes, he always learns something new. “We should be able to cross a Dutch breeder with an American one. The first one has green fingers, the latter is good at marketing.”
by Arie-Frans Middelburg
afmiddelburg@hortipoint.nl
The early hour on Monday morning doesn’t seem to bother Eric Moor. He looks handsome, even at this time of the day. A nice tan, attentive blue eyes, an eternal stubble and an impeccable hairstyle, perfectly combed back. Here and there – Moor will be reaching 50 this year – a grey strand is becoming visible. It suits him. And he is sharp dressed of course, as always.
Moor pours himself a cup of coffee – his guests already have some – and sits down at his desk in the office in De Lier, the Netherlands. It’s a room with a fully glazed front, looking out over a busy road, a roundabout and the greenhouses.
Many people in the industry know Eric Moor. In whatever capacity. For example as Decorum’s former chairman or as a columnist. But above all, he’s the General Manager of Sion Orchids. The company in De Lier, which switched eight years ago from being a phalaenopsis producer/breeder to being a phalaenopsis breeder/propagator. They rapidly gained a place among the top 3 companies in the world.
Number 3
When Moor is asked whether Sion continued its huge success, he bursts out laughing. “Unfortunately we are still number 3”, he jokes, as if Sion stagnated. But he follows it up with some nuances and a few figures. Sion did of course make progress the last couple of years, after a short halt during the crisis years.
Floricultura and Anthura are fighting for first place; Sion has a market share of more than 20%, which makes them one of the four major players in the market. Sion Orchids produce almost 30 million young plants every year. Growers all over the world know them. In more than twenty countries. “Growers want to spread the risk and have the complete assortment”, says Moor.
“The European market for young phalaenopsis plants is stable now. For growth, you’ll have to go outside Europe”, he continues. The United States and Canada are becoming big in phalaenopsis right now.
Considering all the travelling Moor does, Sion seems to be doing everything it can to be part of that growth. Quite recently, the director visited Iran and Mexico. Moor describes Mexico as an upcoming country, just like Brazil, Iran, China, Australia, Indonesia, India and Vietnam.
Still enjoying
When Moor is asked whether he doesn’t get fed up with all the travelling, he laughs out loud. His response says it all. He’s still enjoying it. Although. He isn’t necessarily very keen to go to Taiwan four times per year. And he doesn’t have to either. Sion has salesmen or agents in countries that they’ve already established business relationships with. But in new countries, Moor takes care of the acquisition himself.
Moor doesn’t just travel in the function of Sion’s director. He goes off with a group of entrepreneurs from the horticultural sector once a year. They’ve already been to Peru, Panama, Argentina and Chile. Next year, they’re going to Japan.
”It’s very educational”, he says. “We’re visiting huge en beautiful companies, are sitting all on the plane, at a bar or in the jungle together. Perfect moments to learn from each other and I also learn a lot about the companies in those countries.”
Typhoon
The last place Moor visited for Sion was Taiwan. In a few tweets, he showed the devastating effects of a typhoon on the greenhouses in the East Asian country. And Taiwan was already having a hard time anyway, according to Moor.
Last year, the export of phalaenopsis plant material from Taiwan went down by 10-15%. This year it’s the same. “They’re losing customers in Europe and in the United States”, explains Moor.
The reason is simple: they didn’t manage to get a good understanding of their customers. There may have been four Taiwanese companies who did – just like the Dutch breeders/propagators – says Moor. But many other breeders in Taiwan all went under.
But there are also hundreds of hobbyists who breed orchids in Taiwan. “We have to watch out for them. That’s where the innovation will come from. There are so many of them. We won’t be able to stay ahead. I hope that that fishing pond will stay around.”
Green fingers
Another thing Moor learned on his trips abroad is that foreigners often don’t have the same green fingers. The need for that is really huge in other countries. Such as China, India and Vietnam. They start up the most modern companies without having someone who has the cultivation skills.
Moor and others started an entrepreneurial group called ‘Growing without Borders’ in order to motivate Dutch growers to start a company abroad or to make money out of their knowledge.
“I believe that there are growers with mass products or exclusive products who are doing just fine in the Netherlands. But if they have the ambition to grow, it is worth it to look abroad. Many nurseries can only expand by pushing others out of the market in the Netherlands. In other countries, there’s plenty of space for growth thanks to a demanding market. Take the greenhouse builders and fitters. If they hadn’t gone abroad, they would no longer be around. In addition, as a company, you become more interesting for employees and young upcoming talent, if you act abroad. Young people can develop themselves during internships in Holland or abroad. They love it. It’s easier to get people involved.”
He adds that a foreign branch can provide a certain spread of risk. “The foreign branch should be an extension of the Dutch company. It shouldn’t jeopardize the Dutch company.”
Moor explains that he himself also works with Dutch interns at the subsidiary in Brazil. And Sion also has an employee who’s based in Taiwan.
Lazy
The Dutch may have green fingers, but Moor has noticed that growers in other countries – he mentions the US – are far ahead in the field of marketing. “In the United States, they’ve never had auctions. They have learned to sell. They never became lazy in that field. We should be able to cross a Dutch breeder with an American.”
In countries where they’ve never had auctions, Moor has seen growers sitting around the table with the end customer or even the consumer.
“Getting a Dutch grower to sit around the table with an end customer is an extremely slow process. That’s because the auction, the exporters and sometimes even wholesalers get in between. Exporters have booked some nice results, but only a few of them invest in marketing and transparency. Breeders and growers are not doing enough with regards to shelf management and brand value to the consumer. During the financial crisis, everyone was in a doomsday scenario and everything had to be more market-oriented. Things are a little better now. I get the feeling that people don’t want to go back to the way it used to be, but the process has slowed down again. We’re way behind in the field of transparency, branding and marketing. We have to get out there.”
Golden future
Moor explains that with Decorum – he sees an increase of returns wherever Decorum takes over the shelf – he’s never done as much shopping around as last December. “And that’s when you see what’s going on. If we could improve in the field of marketing and shelf management there would be a golden future for the Dutch floricultural industry.”
Moor brings up the comparison ‘FloraHolland = Holland casino’. “Actually, we’re acting crazy in the Netherlands”, says Moor. We start up these projects that cost millions and throw our plants over the auction walls. And when they aren’t sold, we complain. Each car that’s being manufactured, is sold beforehand. If we continue that comparison: we first completely fill the parking lot with cars, and they’re all white.”
Segregation
The Netherlands is still ahead in the field of phalaenopsis production according to Moor. But he does think that a segregation is going to take place.
”Some growers are doing really well. They are ahead, they know their customers further down the chain and listen to them and focus on a segment that suits them. I think that growers who don’t focus on a certain segment, won’t be able to make it. But the question is how much longer the orchid will remain trendy. We’ve already been trying to get the most out of it. Many types, different pot sizes, dyed, different shapes, different flower sizes. You name it. Can we continue like this, or is there going to be a new product which will take over from phalaenopsis? Is Mercedes going to stay around, or is there going to be a new brand? A Tesla for example. I think that Mercedes will stay for a long time.”
What’s next for Sion?
The question is what Sion’s going to do next. Are they going to produce a Tesla? Moor: “We started breeding 25 years ago and we knew we had found something unique. We built up our own wide range of phalaenopsis and we managed to get straight into the market as a breeder eight years ago. It’s time to start thinking about the next step now. However, internationally there’s still room to expand, when I think of the breeding that’s still going to be done and when i look to the many innovative growers, I suspect the Mercedes will stay for a long time. My next challenge – I’ll be 60 in ten years time – will consist of finding a good successor.”
20161010 De Bloemisterij
