Brazil is gripped by election fever. Part of these elections involve choosing a new president. The first round is over, and we now have two candidates left. One of them is extremely left wing and the other one is extremely right wing. Who will win the second round on the 28th of October? Such a shame that it no longer seems possible to have a moderate candidate!
Our cooperative Veiling Holambra has started another building project. The General Members’ Meeting approved the accelerated expansion of the buyers’ areas. To serve our customers well, the building work must be finished before the Mother’s Day peak. Our volume has increased by 9% this year and as a result, we need more facilities. Despite the economic and political uncertainty, the floricultural industry is growing rapidly.
Meanwhile, our digital platform has been expanding too. More and more brokers have joined the online community. We couldn’t have done it without all the help we’ve been getting from our supplier Advisor ICT Solutions from Mijdrecht. We’re making sure we adhere to the international standards of Floricode.
International collaboration is beneficial for everyone involved. I’m looking forward to the beginning of November, when we’ll be spending a week visiting companies in the Netherlands. We’re very interested in learning more about the model of Greenport and about the World Horti Center. Part of our programme has a specific focus on marketing and the digital platform. It will be nice to meet up with old acquaintances and to get to know new people. These trips always provide new inspiration, and they strengthen our networks.
A recent family outing worth mentioning, was to the largest wetland area in the world: the Pantanal. It has a total size of 350 by 500 kilometres. Animals that you’d normally only see in the zoo, are roaming freely here. Amazing! And interesting to see how dairy farmers were working sustainably and embraced tourism as an important source of income.
We’ve been in Brazil for six years now. A great experience, both at a professional and a personal level. Even if you’ll never be a Brazilian yourself, you might start to resemble them at least a little bit. And over the course of the years, it’s normal to start feeling a little more removed from the things that are going on in the Netherlands. The developments are going fast over there too, though. So, let’s try and bring together all the great things of both countries!
André van Kruijssen,
CEO Veiling Holambra
