100% Digital deadline postponed; Implementation requires a phased plan and a new timeline
08 February 2021
The deadline for 100% Digital of 31 March 2021 has been postponed. After consultation with parties in the sector, we at Royal FloraHolland have concluded that the speed at which we want to realise 100% Digital is excessively ambitious. We have also discovered that certain functionalities needed to be able to trade completely digitally are missing in Floriday. The need to further digitise does however remain and Floriday as a platform is widely supported by the sector.
We understand and are responding to the criticism and concerns of the market. The rollout of 100% Digital is more complex than we estimated in November 2020. In order to fully support trade between growers and buyers through Floriday, a push back of the deadline is inevitable. The signals from the Members' Council weigh heavily in our deliberations.
In the coming weeks, we will discuss the follow-up approach for
the roll-out of 100% Digital with various parties in the market.
These include the Members' Council, FPC chairmen, the various
software suppliers, Blueroots, Plantform (including the flower
group), SLB (part of the VGB), VBW and Flora Futura. The aim of
these discussions is to determine which functionalities are still
needed for users to work with Floriday and what we can improve. On
the basis of these discussions, we will draw up a clear phased plan
and a timeline in which users and software suppliers are given
sufficient time to implement Floriday carefully. Based on these
discussions, we will inform growers, buyers, agents and software
suppliers by the end of March at the latest what this means in
concrete terms. For the time being, there will be no changes to the
leniency scheme and you can continue to trade as you are now.
"First and foremost, we would like to express our appreciation
for everyone's efforts over the past few months. We also take the
signals from the market and from our Members' Council seriously. We
are aware of the impact of the changes on business operations in
the garden and among buyers. The changes require care,
familiarisation and more time. The success of our customers'
businesses is our focus. Particularly with the approaching peak
period, it is important that they can continue to trade.
Floriday is built on the basis of intensive cooperation with
groups of growers and buyers. You only notice what has changed or
what is missing once you start using it. Digitisation is more than
just replicating current practices. It is a complex process that
requires significant attention from all parties. It requires a
different way of working and thinking. Helping one another is key.
We therefore want to slow things down a bit", says David van
Mechelen, CFO Royal FloraHolland.
100% Digital
With 100% Digital, we are taking the next step in the digital transformation of the floriculture industry. We connect growers and buyers for long-term success and support them in growing their business sustainably.
