Greenosa nursery: 'Royal FloraHolland membership takes a lot of work off our hands'

In Duffel, Belgium, half an hour south of Antwerp, we find two young entrepreneurs who recently started their green plant nursery and became members of our cooperative. How do they like the first months and what does membership of Royal FloraHolland bring them? We ask the partners Kristof Michiels and Yorick Peeters.

Kristof and Yorick know each other from school. They always worked well together and after several years of gaining experience in the sector, nursery Greenosa was born. The name is a contraction of green - because they only grow green houseplants - and Osa, a peninsula off the coast of Costa Rica, with a particularly rich biodiversity. Yorick deals mainly with cultivation and purchasing, Kristof with sales and administration.

Greenosa supplies a year-round assortment of some 30 varieties, available in pot sizes 9 and 12 cm. To do so, the partners have invested in a location that used to be home to a tomato nursery. With the necessary modifications, they can now grow the plants on some 2.7 hectares under glass. The products are mainly intended for the arrangement market and retail.

No worries about invoicing
So Greenosa is a relatively new member of Royal FloraHolland. What is the added value for them of being a member of the cooperative? "We were already familiar with some of Royal FloraHolland's services from previous experience in the sector, so it's not entirely new for us," Kristof explains. "One advantage is that we already knew the services that Royal FloraHolland offers and what we wanted to use. Because I can imagine that a completely new grower joining can find the number of services overwhelming though. There really is a huge range."

"A number of services are very convenient for us. Think of the direct debit, and the fact that it saves us a lot of administrative work. We don't have to worry about preparing or keeping track of invoices. But managing CC containers and keeping track of them is also a godsend for us. You don't have to keep track of that all separately, for 10 or 15 different customers. That takes the pressure off."

'With a few stops, everything is with the customer'
"What is also nice is that many exporters are at the same location. So we only have a few unloading locations, which allows us to organise transport relatively cheaply, given how far we are from Aalsmeer and Naaldwijk anyway. The truck simply makes two to three stops, and everything is at all customers. That does really add value for us. Anyway, we have little to complain about Royal FloraHolland's facilitation of the logistics processes. That runs according to plan."

Furthermore, Royal FloraHolland plays a role in promotion towards consumers, Kristof says. "By that I mean the promotion of sales of flowers and plants in general. That might be a bit more difficult to measure, but I certainly think it helps. Also because we ourselves have made a conscious decision not to invest in marketing. Our value for money and service should speak for themselves."

Advice from the auctioneer
"With new products, I keep in close contact with the auctioneers. Then I ask for advice, such as which day is best to introduce the product, and with what regularity we should introduce it. Often we also give a presentation along to raise awareness of the product. This is then shown during breaks, 1 or 2 days before we actually deliver. The customer then knows what to expect."

"Now, in the initial phase, we have a lot of new products and auction around 30% through the clock. In the longer term, the percentage of brokerage trade will grow and the proportion we supply on the clock will go to around 5-10%."

Floriday, from headache to workable option
On a digital level, I like using Floriday now, but it has been different in the past. In the first few years, I was quite disappointed, we might say. I still had to put the supply in both FloraXchange and Floriday, half in one system and half in the other. And you had to keep a close eye on that, because sometimes it didn't come through properly. That gave me quite a headache at the time."

"Now I dare say that Floriday is at the point where it should be. There is always room for improvement, but it is now very workable for us. Being able to select the customer per delivery location, even down to dock number, has also been a good step in this regard. There are now fewer errors in delivery because the carrier can find the location faster."

Good staff of great value
Finally, what is a business without good staff? The nursery has four permanent employees. They came in through acquaintances, friends or family. "We find it very important that people like to get involved, and have a good understanding of what they are doing," Kristof explains. "From our business philosophy, we think it is important for someone to learn why they do something in a specific way. And not 'because we say so'. If you can explain why we do or don't do certain things, for example because it relieves a customer later in the chain, they understand it better."

"Employing new seasonal workers all the time may be cheaper, but we are convinced that when you offer people security, they are willing to go the extra mile. I think that pays off more in the long run than having to explain everything all the time. One of our employees is technically proficient and helps with all kinds of jobs. Then he is not only busy with plants all day, and he loves that variety. I think your employee satisfaction rises and good people are more willing to stay."