Hillenraad100 and Vakblad voor de Bloemisterij created a top 10 of potted plant companies. The profile of these 10 companies can be found below. The top 3 are Ter Laak Orchids, SO Natural and Emsflower. Ter Laak decided to outsource all innovations, concepts and highest quality to Decorum company, an association of Dutch growers of potted plants and cut flowers.
1. TER LAAK ORCHIDS
Crop: Phalaenopsis
Surface: 13 hectares in the Netherlands, 1.2 hectares in Guatemala
Turnover: €28.0 million
’Dare to leave your own identity behind for a broader consumer brand‘
Ter Laak Orchids has had some turbulent years on several areas: new estates, more focus on the market and a more sustainable production. And not to forget setting up a new establishment in Guatemala. The new establishment in Guatemala was very successful; and now the thrilling phase of starting the growing process is going to start. The first plants will be potted in a month.
For the management of the Phalaenopsis company in Wateringen, this gave occasion for planning strategic sessions about where to grow to and what the plans are for a professional company. One of the results was creating more chemistry between the sales, marketing, cultivation and R&D department. ‘A more coherent cooperation between these departments is indispensable when the company focuses on the consumer’s demand. R&D can set up a nice concept, but it doesn’t work when sales doesn’t do anything with it. And vice versa’, says Eduard ter Laak.
Under Decorum label
The decision to outsource all innovations, concepts and highest quality of Ter Laak Orchids from 2017 to Decorum seems to conflict to the course it set in. And this is a decision that all Decorum members sided with. ‘Ter Laak Orchids is a big player in the production of Phalaenopsis, but is just a small player on the total European market with bigger and stronger chain parties. A consumer label like Decorum makes you a stronger party. Especially when the look of this label will be less commercial. It takes guts to leave your own identity behind, but we think that we can reach further by joining forces with colleagues. You can benefit from one another’s novelties, concepts and knowledge’, says Ter Laak.
Ter Laak Orchids is a big player in the production of Phalaenopsis, but is just a small player on the total European market with bigger and stronger chain parties. A consumer label like Decorum makes you a stronger party. Especially when the look of this label will be less commercial. It takes guts to leave your own identity behind, but we think that we can reach further by joining forces with colleagues. You can benefit from one another’s novelties, concepts and knowledge’, says Ter Laak.
2. SO NATURAL
Crop: Phalaenopsis
Surface: 20 hectares
Turnover: €50 million
’Dare to say no’
SO Natural is convinced of maintaining strategic and innovative cooperation within the chain. It therefore dares to say no when something conflicts with this. According to Smaal, not many dare to say no in the industry. And of course it could happen that SO Natural wants to stop cooperating with a party, but that would be an exception. And it would never do so at the expense of partners.
Furthermore, SO Natural grows Phalaenopsis in order to make profit. On one hand to make a living for the management and staff, but also to gain extra profit to realise innovations and necessary investments.
‘Companies are eroded by just debiting, paying off and running break even. And we don’t want that. Because why would you have a company then? Modern entrepreneurship takes smart management in the market. An entrepreneur cannot keep its head above the water by just working hard’, says Smaal.
3. EMSFLOWER
Crop: several potted plants, bedding plants and perennial plants
Surface: 81.3 hectares of glass and 3 hectares of container fields in Germany and the Netherlands
Turnover: € 43.9 million
’An optimized year instead of an expanded one’
Emsflower celebrated its 10th anniversary this spring. Nine out of these ten years were characterized by expansion activities. The last year focused on the improvement of the internal transport via induction. The automatic cars are connected to the order system, which has been automatized earlier. At the end of the year, the electric cars with the connected Danish containers that the staff have to operate will be a pastime.
‘In the same year, we also did everything to optimize the organisation round the internal logistics. We mainly focused on cutting robots and universal production lines. All renewals lead to about €1 million savings per year because we use 30 staff members less than before. The other staff will work in a more structured way. The total recovery period will be four to five years.’
4. BUNNIK PLANTS
Crop: several green houseplants
Surface: 25 hectares
Turnover: € 66,6 million
’Focus on the internal management’
Bunnik Plants focuses on the improvement of the internal management this year. By working with self-directed teams, the organisation wants to increase the satisfaction among employees. Bunnik Plants is convinced that this happens when employees get more freedom and responsibility. It eventually wants employees to assess one another instead of only by the management.
With self-directed teams, Bunnik Plants wants to preserve the advantages of both a large-scale and small-scale greenhouse horticulture business; besides scale advantages on the area of purchasing and efficiency, also a sense of result among staff. They believe that self-directed teams will eventually lead to extra value for a more sustainable management in the broadest sense of the word; when more employees are satisfied, the customers will follow automatically.
5. ANCO PURE VANDA
Crop: Vanda orchid
Surface: 5,6 hectares
Turnover: € 7.8 million
’From plant with flower to flower per plant’
Ever since Steef van Adrichem and his partner Ed Helderman strongly expanded the company in 2010 by the acquisition of the neighbour, the company focused on marketing the exclusive Vanda orchid more as a flower than as a potted plant. This transition has everything to do with the dominance of Phalaenopsis which boosted the pressure on the price of all, mostly more expensive potted orchids. The share of potted plants that leaves the nursery has dropped with 40% in five years, and the number of cutting flowers from the plants has more than doubled. This leads to a lower turnover and less costs. It doesn’t lead to a higher profit margin for now.
For his exclusive product, he started to experience the auction system more and more as a nuisance. Van Adrichem believes direct and online sales are the solution. He believes the current share of clock sales of 55% will decrease significantly in the upcoming years.
6. FACHJAN PROJECTS PLANTS
Crop: green houseplants
Surface: 4.5 hectares
Turnover: € 11.3 million
’We go for the goodwill factor’
For both the suppliers and the buyers, Fachjan strives for the goodwill factor. At the start of the chain, the company doesn’t go for cheap, cheaper, cheapest, and it focuses on possible problems. At the end of the chain, the company tries to work on ‘customer loyalty’ by an attitude of ‘being open and nothing is impossible’. This even means that one has to look for alternatives, also if these alternatives are with the colleagues, as long as the customer thinks of Fachjan first when a new order comes in.
This attitude hasn’t done Fachjan any harm. Over the past few years, it realized a turnover growth of 10 to 25%. That is why they hadn’t noticed the economic crisis, which certainly hasn’t passed green houseplant growers without any harm. Co-owner Paul Janssen is happy with the growth, but considers growth as a secondary target. When it comes to company size, the company has about reached its max. Janssen doesn’t exclude further expansion when a nice opportunity comes by though.
7. SV.CO
Crop: potted chrysanthemums, kalanchoe and other seasonal products
Surface: 14 hectares
Turnover: € 13.2 million
’Created more unison in the management structure’
SV.CO has four managers and three production locations. In 2010, it chose to take a close look at the task division of the management. A practical and applicable package of tasks for every manager was the result. By redevising the tasks, every manager now performs its tasks for all locations. Every location still has its own responsibilities, but SV.CO does look more united with a clear management structure and company code. This makes cooperation between the different locations easier, such as for staff exchange.
It now knows what seasonal products to use in order to optimize the space at the locations. The assortment of SV.CO also contained poinsettia, but the Primula obconica and potted celosia have joined the club too. The last addition was the potted lisianthus, with which last season started. This year, the newcomer took up 2% of the turnover, but the company strives to increase this percentage up to 10 or 15%. With this, the potted lisianthus is not just the next ‘filler’ but made to grow throughout the year. The product is taken up in the assortment to spread the risks a little more.
8. SJAAK VAN SCHIE
Crop: cutting, green and blossoming potted hydrangea
Surface: 12 hectares of greenhouse and 27 hectares of container fields in the Netherlands and 6 hectares of greenhouse and 24 hectares of container fields in Portugal
Turnover: € 15.8 million
‘Family businesses always rise to the surface again’
Like for many companies, the crisis has left a mark on Sjaak van Schie as well. The year of 2014 was all right, and the year of 2015 was great for the entire assortment of the potted hydrangea, and so Van Schie has been able to get his company back on track again. The company result enables him to invest in new products and concepts again.
Van Schie believes that family businesses are better able to show their resilience than non-family businesses. He doesn’t know if he would have been able to get things together when he would have had a non-family business. For the next season, he is expecting some growth again, at which he focuses on cutting and green production in national and international markets.
Van Schie keeps hammering away that foreign adventures shouldn’t be taken lightly. ‘You’re behind with 1-0 from the start. International entrepreneurship seems simple, but is certainly not’, he warns. With many years’ foreign experience, Van Schie knows that knowledge of the culture and habits of a country is just as important as facts about new market opportunities and growing circumstances. ‘Dutch people tend to be willing to make things clear with raised fingers.’
9: MOERINGS WATERPLANTENKWEKERIJ
Crop: water plants
Surface: 3.5 hectares of greenhouse and 9.7 hectares of fields in Roosendaal, plus in the west of the country another 3 hectares of greenhouse and an aquarium plants nursery of 2 hectares
Turnover: € 8.3 million
’Building a lot’
At the end of 2016, Waterplantenkwekerij R. Moerings in Roosendaal wants to have expanded from 2.2 hectares of greenhouse to 3.5 hectares of greenhouse. The expansion of 1.3 hectares at this location has been realised already, at which the company focuses on 25% energy savings by using diffuse glass, more economical boilers and screens.
No customer is too big or too small for the company, but it focuses on garden centres and pond centres in the Netherlands and abroad. It also steals a glance at retail. Fiona Moerings thinks there are plenty of opportunities. The growth was mainly realised by transboundary market opportunities throughout Europe.
Good presentation and maintenance are half the battle in all outlets, as says Moerings. Inventing new concepts is the order of the day to give consumers new ideas. The terrace pond that it invented earlier is very popular. Elaborating on this success, the company is also working on a table pond (a glass bowl with floating plants) for inside or outside at the table. With such concepts, Moerings does not limit itself to the 12% of the consumers that already have a pond.
10: PLIGT PROFESSIONALS
Crop: blossoming bedding plants and potted plants
Surface: 8 hectares
Turnover: € 10.0 million
’Further innovation with profit’
Gert van der Pligt wants to surprise end customers with the introduction of a new product almost every month. He mainly wants to deliver new products that customers have been waiting for. This leads to more satisfaction and profit than an optimum production.
Pligt Professionals has experience a slow expansion over the past 15 years. The profit is always reinvested in new concepts or crops. Van der Pligt is not focused on profit maximisation. If the turnover or profit of a certain year is less good, he absolutely doesn’t worry. ‘Entrepreneurship was and is paying attention to the lesson and moving along with the market. The acceleration is higher every time though. The next step has to be taken when the last one hasn’t finished yet,’ claims Van der Pligt.
The last passion of the potted plant grower is the development of the Dolc’Amore consumer brand. He initiated it, but it’s not limited to his products. It is a step to realise better margins, together with colleagues and chain partners.
Next week: the profiles of the Top 10 cut flower growers.
Richard (l) and Eduard Ter Laak, Ter Laak Orchids: ’Dare to leave your own identity behind for a broader consumer brand.’
