‘Currently, MPS-ABC is the global standard in the certification of floricultural products. I am very proud of all we have managed to establish within the past 20 years. The ABC certification will, however, not be sufficient in the future; MPS ProductProof will become the new global standard,’ said Theo de Groot. He will hand over his role as MPS Director to Yolande van den Boom on 23 June 2016.
At the start of the interview, Theo de Groot joked, ‘I’ve passed my sell-by date.’ He has been involved with MPS right from the start. However, Mister MPS, as you might call him, has reached the pensionable age of 65 years. Theo de Groot will retire as director of MPS on 23 June 2016, and Yolande van den Boom will succeed him from mid-July onwards. Theo de Groot is pleased with the choice of successor, ‘Extensive experience in the primary sector, management, sustainability, and certification were all decisive factors in our choice.’
What has been your greatest success?
‘First of all, I don’t take all the credit for the success of MPS myself; many people and employees have contributed to this. However, right from the start, I claimed that MPS-ABC would be the global standard in the certification of floricultural products, and my daring statement became a reality. MPS has put floriculture on the right track for sustainability.’
Was it easy?
‘It has been a struggle to get the label widely accepted by auction authorities and pressure groups, but especially by growers. Criticism from growers has not subsided, but with a percentage of floricultural growers who use MPS between 60% to 70%, it has certainly been successful.’
What makes MPS unique?
‘MPS has become a unique label that cannot be copied or benchmarked. It is not just a paper certificate, but a dynamic management tool to make sustainability quantifiable. That is a big plus-point for the certification system.’
Will MPS-ABC remain the worldwide standard?
‘No; growers will still use MPS-ABC as a great management and IT tool to enable them to produce more sustainably, but it will no longer be sufficient in the future. It will be increasingly expected that growers will issue product guarantees. So, my next daring statement is that MPS ProductProof will be the new worldwide standard in the certification of floricultural products in ten years time.’
Is MPS a must?
‘I wouldn’t say that, but MPS is leading when it comes to rating sustainability in the floriculture sector, although it certainly does not have exclusive rights. In the past two decades, other renowned certificates have been brought to the market worldwide, and they all have contributed to the sustainability of ornamental crops.’
Aren’t there now too many sustainability certificates?
‘It is not too bad. The main certificates beside MPS are FairTrade, Ecolabel, and GlobalGAP. Other labels are based on these and are adapted accordingly, with a national or retailer’s finishing touch.’
Why is it so important to rate sustainability?
‘Because sustainability has become an important factor in the market. Unfortunately, it still does not pay off.’
What has been your biggest frustration?
‘I still don’t understand why Florimark had to be introduced to the market as a sector-wide sustainability label in floriculture a decade ago, with MPS as part of this. We did not see that coming; we were not even involved with the introduction at that time.’
You must have appreciated the search for a sustainable floriculture sector.
‘Yes, of course, but I didn’t like the way it was done. You cannot introduce a certification within one or two years, especially if you want it to be accepted throughout the sector; you need at least five to ten years for that. It is funny though that Florimark is now part of MPS. The first thing we did was to divide it into two labels, Florimark Trade and Florimark Production.’
Where do you see room for improvement in the floriculture sector as far as sustainability is concerned?
‘I don’t understand why the sector is not adopting Fair Flowers and Fair Plants (FFP). I understand that it is not easy for individual growers to achieve an MPS-SQ as part of FFP and that FairTrade is better known as a consumer label, but FFP can generate much more supply. Growers do not have to worry about demand as that is plentiful.’
How can the gap between supply and demand for FFP be bridged?
‘That is something that I am happy to leave to my successor.’
Do you know whether criticism by the Dutch TV programme Zembla on the subject of FairTrade did any harm to MPS?
‘Not really. It is not up to the organisation behind a label to prove its reliability; that is up to the grower who carries the label. It is their responsibility, and product guarantee will, therefore, soon have a much larger role in the certification of sustainability.’
Background information on Yolande van den Boom
The new CEO Yolande van den Boom will succeed Theo de Groot, who is retiring in mid-July. Yolande van den Boom, 52, was born in Rotterdam and has been extensively involved in themes such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability; she has an extensive knowledge of food safety and the certification in that area.
A passion for sustainability
Yolande van den Boom has varied experience in certification, agriculture, and sustainability, which she has acquired by setting up and guaranteeing various food-safety certification schemes as well as by her involvement in co-development of schedules on behalf of the Dutch environmental quality label, Milieukeur. Her extensive experience in sustainable business will be put to good use by MPS, where the major focus is on greenhouse horticulture. Yolande van den Boom said: ‘I am very happy to be joining MPS. With my commercial background, my years of experience as a quality and operations director, my knowledge of change management and innovation, and my passion for sustainability, I hope to be able to strengthen the MPS’ leading market position. All the pieces of the puzzle seem to be falling into place for me.’
Focus on acquiring business knowledge
Yolande van den Boom is already busy building up her knowledge on the subject, so she was not able to answer content-related questions about MPS just yet. She could talk about sustainability in general, though. ‘The time of striving to run a sustainable business has passed; running a business sustainably is now an obvious, automatic choice. I see growth possibilities for the MPS modules from that perspective, but this applies to all sustainable labels because sustainability is a dynamic process. There is always room for improvement for transparency and interactive certification,’ Yolande van den Boom reasoned.
Time for reflection
Yolande van den Boom said that a change of leadership offers a great opportunity to scrutinise the organisation and its processes, and she is definitely planning to do so. ‘A time for reflection is always useful within any organisation,’ the new MPS CEO concluded.
