Danish trading company GASA Group moved into brand-new, tailor-made facilities at the end of 2018. A strategic step, which will lead to higher efficiency and growth of the company. “This is an important message to pass on to our suppliers as well as our clients. If we didn’t believe that GASA Group will be a strong player in the European flower and plant business in the future, we would not have taken this big step.”
By: Lotte Bjarke
GASA Group is a Danish trading company with an international set-up, specialised in flowers and plants for the European market. The foundation of the company is the Danish production of a wide assortment of primarily houseplants and bedding plants. Its location in the heart of the main Danish production area is a unique strength of the company.
On top of this, GASA Group has an international set-up with subsidiaries GASA Germany, GASA Holland, GASA Poland and GASA Hungary, as well as a strong purchasing organisation in Italy.
„Customers all over Europe have a demand for an international assortment. In order to be able to supply them with the right mix of products, it is important to be present locally. Sourcing, quality control and logistics can only be optimised when we are there, directly in the market”, explains Daniél Vesterlund, COO of GASA Group.
He underlines that the orders from large European retailers sometimes include a quantity of plants that requires sourcing in more than one market. The GASA Group set-up is designed to fulfil those needs. „It is also a question of reliability in the eyes of our partners. We don’t just call and place an order for products we have never set eyes on. We are present in the market and source the right plants for the client”, says Daniél Vesterlund.
Apart from the trading of plants, GASA Group has a branch, GASA Young Plants, that specialises in sourcing and selling seedlings and young plants to European nurseries. As part of GASA Group, GASA Young Plants can help sourcing novelties for, for example, retailers that are searching for new products in their assortment of plants.
Epicentre of Danish plant export
Since 1964, the GASA Group headquarters have been situated close to Odense city centre. But the old buildings were not designed for modern-day trading and logistics, and the city of Odense had grown so much that the local traffic situation had become a daily challenge.
This is the background of the strategic decision to build new headquarters with state-of-the-art logistic facilities close to the motorway in the outskirts of Odense. Other Danish flower and plant exporters and distributors will also be operating from here in the future, making the suburb of Højme the epicentre of Danish plant export.
„We are investing in the future. This is an important message to pass on to our suppliers as well as our clients. If we didn’t believe that GASA Group will be a strong player in the European flower and plant business in the future, we would not have taken this big step. The strategy of the company is to build strong partnerships with clients as well as suppliers, in order to make our set-up unique and valuable for all parties. I believe we have created even better possibilities to fulfil this goal, thanks to our new headquarters”, says Daniél Vesterlund.
Most modern terminal in Scandinavia
The new headquarters of GASA Group has a total area of 21,050 square metres and the heart of the building consists of a large terminal – 11,250 square metres with 43 gates, 6,200 square metres of storage and an outside storage for CC containers. Next to this is the office building, where the administration, financial and sales departments have moved into 3,600 new square metres designed for the purposes of the company. „The goal was very clear. We wanted to build the most modern and efficient terminal for distribution of flowers and plants in Scandinavia. I have no doubt that this is exactly what we have got now”, says Claes Riber, CFO of GASA Group, with a big smile.
The two directors, who together form the executive management of GASA Group, are evidently both happy and very proud with the result of the long journey of moving the old institution that GASA Group is in the Danish horticultural sector. The old headquarters have been sold and the area will be transformed into a new residential area of Odense.
New IT system integrated with Navision
The large terminal has three zones for incoming and outgoing containers with gates all the way around. This means that the terminal can be dimensioned according to needs. It doesn’t all have to be in use in the low seasons.
The physical handling of the plants is closely related to a new IT system, which was integrated with the Navision system of the company. This has created new possibilities when it comes to control and efficiency of the logistic procedures. „We can use the data within the system even before the plants arrive. We work with a scanning system so that all products are scanned when they arrive and when they leave the terminal. This means that we can provide the clients with improved logistical details”, says Daniél Vesterlund.
Ready for growth
In the storage department, there are work zones for added-value products, another important part of the services of GASA Group. The company even has a partner in China for the sourcing of unique and tailormade ceramics for their added-value products. „We work closely together with our partners in order to create exactly the products they want. We have installed showrooms that can function as private workshops too, for instance when a retail client wants to work together with us on their own designs”, explains Daniél Vesterlund.
„We closed an old door, but opened a new one. We feel we have created a new framework which will facilitate new ideas and new possibilities. The coherence within the company is important for us. In the new building, all employees and guests enter through the same front door. I am sure that this, in combination with the layout of the building, will boost coherence and the way we work together”, says Claes Riber.
In the hearts of both directors there are no doubts. GASA Group is ready for the future and for growth. „Our goal is that we, together with our partners, will be able to enter new markets and that we expand our current markets. Our trade is built on a Danish system that is known for efficiency and reliability. It is widely known that you can count on Danish quality, and this is one of the important strengths of GASA Group”, they say.
