Samenwerking leidt tot vele successen

Door Joep Derksen

TULPEN – Succes komt in vele vormen en een goede samenwerking is vaak de basis van het grootste succes. Goede voorbeelden hiervan zijn de resultaten voortgekomen uit de coöperatie tussen Borst Bloembollen en Chrysal. Menno Boots en Rolf Timmerman vertellen openhartig over waar ze de afgelopen jaren mee bezig zijn geweest.

De geschiedenis van Borst Bloembollen gaat terug tot vlak na de tweede wereldoorlog. Het bedrijf is gespecialiseerd in het introduceren van nieuwe tulpenrassen. Hierbij wordt er niet alleen veredeld, maar ook heeft de onderneming bollenkwekerijen in Nederland, Chili en Nieuw Zeeland. Sinds 2001 heeft Borst Bloembollen ook een eigen broeierij. Boots: 'Vijftien jaar geleden hadden we daar 2 miljoen stelen en dat is inmiddels opgeschaald naar 30 miljoen stelen, met meer dan honderd variëteiten op jaarbasis.' 90% van de tulpen worden gekweekt op potgrond; de overige 10% op water. Het broeien gebeurt van half oktober tot half mei, waarbij de voornaamste productie plaats vindt in de periode van begin februari tot half maart.

De samenwerking tussen Borst en Chrysal begon in 2008, toen Boots als student voor zijn afstudeerproject voor Borst Bloembollen onderzocht hoe de kwaliteit van de tulpen verbeterd kon worden. Hij legde contact met Chrysal en daar hadden ze dé oplossing: BVB Plus. Met dit middel blijven kwaliteitstulpen zoals die van Borst Bloembollen nog een paar dagen langer goed. BVB Plus zorgt er voor dat de stengels minder doorgroeien, het blad groener en de bloemen blijven dagen langer mooi. Hierdoor kunnen de tulpen van Borst ook in boeketten verwerkt worden; een mooi bijkomend voordeel!

Timmerman informeert: 'Bij tulpen spelen twee zaken, die in de keten of later bij de consument, als minder positief beoordeeld kunnen worden. Tulpen groeien na de oogst nog verder door. Deze steelstrekking kan al zichtbaar zijn tijdens transport naar de klant of in het winkelschap. De tulpen “groeien de hoes uit of kunnen zelfs tegen de onderkant van de verpakking aan groeien, wat weer schade kan veroorzaken. In gemengde boeketten, dus tulpen met andere bloemen, kunnen de tulpen ook uit het boeket groeien wat de winkelpresentatie niet ten goede komt.'

Hij vervolgt: 'Het doorgroeien wordt geremd en dus niet complete gestopt. Dit geeft een natuurlijk beeld, een bos tulpen is daardoor geen statisch geheel. Door verschillende oorzaken kan er bij tulpen ook bladvergeling optreden. Dit vergelen van het blad vermindert de sierwaarde. Ook zal bij snel vergelend blad , de houdbaarheid van de bloem korter zijn en dus het gemiddelde vaasleven bij de consument korter zijn. Met BVB Plus worden beide negatieve aspecten duidelijk verminderd en hierdoor zullen de behandelde tulpen tot meer tevreden consumenten leiden en minder uitval in de keten geven. . Borst Bloemen behandelt al jaren het complete sortiment tulpen gedurende het gehele seizoen tegen deze problemen.'

Inmiddels hebben Chrysal en Borst Bloembollen ook nieuwe projecten opgezet. Een hiervan is FreshPaq; voorafgaand aan het transport worden de tulpen in een speciale gesloten verpakking geplaatst, waardoor ze droog verhandelbaar zijn en niet in emmers geplaatst hoeven te worden. Het hele project bevindt zich nog in de testfase, maar de resultaten zijn bijzonder goed. De eerste klanten hebben inmiddels tulpen met FreshPaq ontvangen en de positieve reacties stromen binnen. Boots: 'We zijn enthousiast over wat we gezien hebben. Door deze nieuwe manier van verpakken kunnen we tien tulpen per bos aanbieden in plaats van vijftig stelen in een bundel. Hierdoor kunnen onze afnemers de tulpen nu ook in kleinere hoeveelheden aanbieden aan hun klanten.' De beide mannen besluiten: 'Doordat beide partijen vele klanten over de hele wereld hebben is uitwisseling van markt- en klantinformatie ook een interessant onderdeel van de uitstekende relatie.' 

You'll miss a lot when you don't look over the fence

Too much important information and developments are missed when people don't look over the fence. This is the firm conviction of Mark van der Hulst, chairman of FPC Roos. After all, each company or organisation has to deal with the environment or sector in which it operates.

Roos is the most international product of all product groups. Therefore Van der Hulst believes is to be of the greatest importance for FPC to be influential on all matters regarding auctions. And always be well informed of new information and developments.

Van der Hulst was taught the rose business from the nursery. This has caused Van der Hulst to commit himself on behalf of the FPC for the rose business. ‘Van der Hulst Rozenkwekerijen’ is a family business, consisting of three modern rose breeders. Situated close together in Meterik, in the province of Limburg. 'My two brothers and I each own a nursery and our sister and in-laws take care of the administration. Or contribute in a different way. Our parents, Sjaak and Cleta van der Hulst, are also still actively involved in the operation. The total production area of the nurseries is nine hectare. Our unique selling point is that we grow eleven special large-flowered roses in an exclusive colour palette. We were taught at a young age already, to get our feelers out in the world around us. And to actively participate in working groups and consultative bodies, from the perception that people will be stronger together.

Product market plan

In these days particularly, the Dutch rose is still under pressure and a number of growers is in desperate straits. Therefore it is more important than ever to cooperate in order to come to a good auction policy, according to Van der Hulst. 'It is incredibly harsh to hear when a colleague has had to pull the plug. In addition, rose growers in Africa are suffering due to the unfavourable euro dollar exchange rate. However, we have to move on and look to the future. That is where the Product market plan Roos comes in. We from the FPC are pleased about the way this was achieved within the new auction strategy. The FPC has continuously and closely monitored the development by advising or judging over the subjects discussed during each meeting. Despite the recent changes within the team of Royal FloraHolland, the process itself was executed well. This also applies for the speed in which the team executed the tasks at hand.

Promotion plan Rose 2016

The product team of Royal FloraHolland has in the meantime picked up four initiatives. Next to that, the Product market plan also consisted of the intention to set up and work out the Promotion plan Roos 2016. The product group Roos is one of few product groups for which a promotion plan has not been realised. According to Van der Hulst this is due to the extreme complexity of the product Roos. He explains: 'Roos is represented in the FPC internationally as well. When you want to summarise the whole range of products in one plan, it is all about the details. First everybody has to be on the same pages and only then we can move ahead. In any case, Royal FloraHolland Product Marketing currently works hard on realising the Promotion plan Roos 2016. Possibly a first impression can already be presented during the National Day of the Roses. However, it is expected that this plan is only ready for presentation after this summer. Only at that time, the plan can be put to the vote. But once the Promotion plan Roos 2016 is finished, a real feat has definitely been accomplished. We are looking forward to that.'

Roses to seduce the consumer

Roses are a party to florist and top arranger Johan Martens from Helmond. Of course he is a flower enthusiast, but he has something special with roses. It is a particularly good product with which he can seduce the consumer.

For the third time in a row, Johan Martens and his colleague Ria Nijssen were asked to decorate the beautiful Gertrudis church in the rose village Lottum with flowers. This will be done for the biannual Rose festival. 'Every time this is an enormous challenge', says Johan. 'Because the church decorated with roses is part of the Rose festival, attracting over 50,000 visitors. The decorations go beyond merely some rose arrangements. Over 30,000 roses are used to make the church building one of the larger crowd pleasers of the festival.'

Year in advance

The fun starts a year in advance already. The moment when Johan and Ria think of the way they will incorporate the roses within the festival theme. 'It has to be done in such a way that we will entice the visitors. After all, inspiring applications are the best promotion for the flower and rose business. To mention an example, after the latest festival, we were contacted by a couple about to be married. They wanted to have precisely the same decorations in the chapel where they would exchange their wedding vowels. Now that is precisely the way we want it.'

Roses make all the difference

The church decorations are different for each edition. At the first time, the arrangements and flower decorations were mostly made with roses in bright colours, ranging from yellow, pink and orange to red. The second edition only white roses were used. For the upcoming edition roses in soft pastel tinges were chosen. 'We will use a set up with a lot of interaction with the audience', Johan informs. 'The combination of music, light and dance and maybe even a catwalk will make it the most important attraction. For this flower event, we intent to have all roses sponsored and we are still searching for some additional support from the product group. Roses make all the difference is the theme of the Rose festival to be held in Lottum from 12 until 15 August.'

Prince Filipe

it is a well-known fact that Johan has for years been active as a flower arranger with BloemenBureau Holland. Also he has been working for Bloemsierkunst 't Genderdal in Eindhoven for the past fifteen years. And he has been involved with many more projects, such as '300 years St. Petersburg', 'Sailing Corso', 'Autumn shows FloraZON, the flower event in Azerbaijan, numerous international presentations and the construction of shows and events. Johan even helped to decorate the royal wedding of Prince Filipe en Letitzia in Spain. His passion for flowers goes all the way back to his childhood. At the age of 12 he had already made up his mind and started his career at the 'lagere tuinbouwschool' (elementary horticulture school). After that he went to the secondary horticulture school and followed the 'Meesterbindersopleiding' (Master binder education) in Vught. 'All kind of opportunities crossed my path and it only got better. After having worked five years in Venlo at Bloemsierkunst Hai Ebus, now called Nizza Bloembinders, I felt it was time to start for my own. I set up and ran a specialist shop in flowers in Beek and Donk for thirteen years. The past ten years I run Floral Moments from Helmond. Besides this, I have been active as an independent entrepreneur for the past twenty years.'

Competitions

Johan likes to participate in competitions, for a change. He can then compete with both national and international top arrangers. He has so much creativity that he developed his own unique style. 'Every day I am learning. Colleagues, trends and flower events are my most important sources for inspiration. I strive to always seduce the consumer with flower decorations, arrangements and bouquets. The end result should reflect a certain atmosphere. It is remarkable that the younger consumer is becoming more and more open for this seduction. Beautiful products such as roses will help to achieve this. Especially the latest generation of roses in the top end with their beautiful round and lush filled flowers are marvellous. They perform well in both the romantic as well as the modern settings, in which I prefer to show the rose in its purest form.

Johan concludes by stating that cut backs should not be done on promotion. Much talked about television programmes such as 'Eigen Huis & Tuin' (Own Home & Garden) and, recently, 'Nederlands Beste bloemstylist' (Dutch Best Flower Stylist) make tongues wagging and show how beautiful this business is. 'Showing your products and what you do almost always leads to new consumer purchases. “That is what I also want”, is the main reason for the consumer. But you should never show up with a non-inspiring homogeneous product. Therefore, I always give my products a twist. In short, it is all about creating atmosphere, colour and smell in an inspiring setting.'

To the consumer, Rose stays number one

The acreage where Dutch roses are grown continues to decrease a little and the turnover for the Dutch rose is expected to become lower in 2016, compared to the year before. However, one thing remains unchanged: the product Rose remains de most important cut flower for the consumer.

'Due to this warm winter, the supply of the product Dutch Rose as well as the international product Rose continues to do well', says Janneke de Jong from FloraHolland. She is the successor of FloraHolland Product Coordinator Roos, Will Zuiderdijk, after he transferred to Amaryllis and Calla. 'In other words, so far the weather has not hindered neither the supply nor the sales. This was quite different in recent years, when heavy snowfall shut down entire regions due to a slump in supply and sales.'

Premium market

Market developments show that rose breeders in the Netherlands and South America mostly focus on the premium market, according to Janneke. 'The African rose breeders focus more on the lower and middle segment. However, lately some African suppliers are good enough to trade in the premium segment. This makes South America and Africa formidable players in the market.'

800 million Euro

Compared to other large products, such as Tulip and Chrysanthemum, the Rose still occupies first place. When adding the results of all sales instruments from Royal FloraHolland, this comes to an annual turnover of around 800 million Euro worth of roses at the auction. 'The colour pallet on the clock has been stable for years. Red, pink and white are by far the most popular colours and they represent not less than 64 percent of the clock supply. Based on volume, in 2015 the largest varieties on the clock were: Belle Rose, Marie Claire, Athena, Red Naomi en Avalanche+. Of all roses traded via FloraHolland, 26 percent goes to Germany. Furthermore many roses go to France and the United Kingdom. In a not-insignificant number of cases the roses remain in the Netherlands.'

Product market plan

In order to provide the product Rose with some additional support, four initiatives have been prioritised in 2015. These initiatives were developed into the Product market plan by the FloraHolland Product team, in cooperation with the FPC. In this context Janneke informs that these initiatives will be followed up and further implemented in 2016. One of these initiatives concerns the experiment 'auctioning boxes'. This will be continued for the near future. The Product team cooperates with the department Product market information. Together they have realised a poster with the title 'The world of roses'. The international playing field of the rose can be seen on this poster. In the short term a theme report on Germany will be published. The consumer research which was executed for rose, confirmed matters regarding consumer behaviour. But it also provided us with new insights. The information from this research will be used in developing the promotion plan for rose.

Valentine promotions

With Valentine just around the corner, Janneke informs that Bloemen Bureau Holland organises a remarkable initiative to promote sales every year. 'Two years ago we organised “In Case of Love at First Site”, where we spread love and happiness in Paris by placing 1,500 red alarm boxes with a red rose. Last year Cupidrone brought love to Verona, city of the worlds most famous love couple Romeo and Juliet. And this year Cupid will help in Rome to spread the love by means of distributing roses. Undoubtedly this will be another much talked about promotion!'

Rose, Queen of the Flowers

Meet the Queen of the Flowers; the rose. This majestic rose thanks its title to her worldwide popularity as most beautiful girl of the class. So no matter where you are or who you are; roses are always welcome.

Colours and shapes

The rose shines in red, white, yellow, pink, purple, orange and green. In addition there are two-coloured or even multicoloured roses. Varying in size from large to small and with short or long stems; it is all possible. And here's some good news for fans of roses: every year new kinds of roses are introduced.

Symbolism of the rose

The rose is Queen of the Symbolic Meanings as well. The heart-shaped leafs symbolise love and trust and the thorns indicate that love sometimes is no bed of roses.

Meaning

Especially red roses are inextricably connected with love, but did you know that each colour has its own meaning?:

• Red: love and respect
• White: true love, pure, dignity
• Pink: happiness, gratitude, purity
• Orange: desire, appreciation, sympathy
• Yellow: intimate friendship, connection

Combination

Combinations of colours and other flowers have a meaning too. When you bring a white and red rose together, you express the hope that you always want to be together.

Symbolise

Roses in a bouquet symbolise gratitude and one single rose in a large bouquet means: 'You are the one I love, you are the one for me!' Isn't that beautiful?!

Bouquet inspiration with roses

Very beautiful too is this luxurious bouquet, with white tinges, various colours of pink and a golden emphasis. You can make this pastel coloured rose bouquet all by yourself, or you can ask the florist to give you a hand. The roses you see here are spray roses and large-flowered roses.

Accent

Additionally, on the photo you will also discover the beautiful Amaryllis Mocca in the bouquet. The dark pink carnation and a couple of branches Eucalyptus, coloursprayed in gold, provide you with a remarkable accent.

Rose, Queen of the Flowers

Chrysal guarantees a shining life in a vase

The rose should get back to the place it belongs. Queen Rose deserves to be on her throne. Sales and marketing manager Simon Buis of Rosa Natura leaves no room for doubt: the rose has the most emotional value of all flowers. It stands out from the pack, not in the least because of the perception.

By Frank de Klerk

It is not merely a coincidence that the roses of rose nursery Rosa Natura are so beautiful and smell so nice. They grow on historical soil, where flowers were grown for the Royal House of Orange in the 17^th century already. 'It is almost sacred ground' over here, says Simon Buis. 'The “Lusthof (pleasure garden) Hontsholredick”, with the very first rosarium of the Netherlands was situated at precisely this location. The royal élan of the House of Orange is still wandering around. I hope that we can further develop this and promote it to the consumer.'

Rivalry

Rosa Natura is quite a substantial company. Often rivalry can be found amongst rose growers, regarding size of beauty of the organisations. But Simon sees it completely different: 'We want to create the best experience for the consumer and exceed all her expectations', says Buis. 'The rose is the most beautiful flower in terms of emotion and it connects people with each other. We want to deliver this message to the client. That is the reason why we use the designation “rosa&u” (Rosa and you). With the “&” symbol we want to create connections with the different parties in the chain. With one primary goal; a consumer who enjoys the products.

To accomplish this, we closely cooperate with various parties. Together we want to serve our buyers even better. Additionally, we want to let the final customer enjoy our marvellous large-flowered rose with her beautiful natural perfume for a longer period of time.'

Nurturing

With such a sensitive and beautiful product as the rose, a very careful way of operating is absolutely vital during the cultivation. 'We will first make sure that our own people are comfortable. When that is the case, they will also deal in a good way with our products', says Simon Buis. 'We particularly look at personal hygiene, but company hygiene as well. Our employees work in company clothing and they disinfect all harvest carts and harvest scissors several times per day. The roses follow a carefully laid out hygienic path, to protect them against harmful bacteria. In this way, the consumer can enjoy the rose in the best way possible. Visitors and employees all have to abide the hygienic protocol. In the beginning it took some time to get used to, but now it has become routine. Altogether we grow 25 million beautiful love roses. And we do it with dedication!'

Hygiene

To guarantee the hygiene in the supply chain, and in so doing prolong the vase life considerably (the so-called post harvest), Rosa Natura has sought and found cooperation with Chrysal. 'The consumer want to enjoy these beautiful flowers for ten days', says export manager Emile Dings of Chrysal. 'Our department of research and development has done tests to find out in what way we can keep flowers well for as long as possible. Chrysal employees have regularly visited Rosa Natura and have helped in the research during all stages. Based on the results of the audit, Chrysal has given a suitable advise about possible improvements regarding the after harvest process. A common point of concern for Chrysal and Rosa Natura is the multiple auction cask. It looks clean from the outside, but this is merely appearance. It is filled with bacterial life and these bacteria are anything but beneficial to the perishability of our carefully grown and harvested roses.' Chrysal and Rosa Natura have set up a protocol together to improve the quality and reduce bacteria growth.

This special cooperation has led to the fact that the consumer can bring home an exceptionally good quality of rosa&u roses.' Because of a good perishability the happiness with the rose lasts longer. 'When the client can enjoy it ten days or longer, he is happy for a longer period of time and will come back to the florist because of the good quality of the flower. Quality improvement is a sales opportunity. 'Top quality requires the commitment of the entire chain. Good nurturing and hygiene is of the utmost importance. That process starts with the grower and ends at the consumers house', says Emile Dings. 'In between are the exporter, wholesaler and florist. We try to get through to all these parties to nurture the flowers and plants well. In such a way the quality can be guaranteed. For instance: sixty percent of companies in the supply chain does not use any conditioners to keep the flowers and plants in good condition with themselves or at the consumer. In this lies a great challenge, but particularly a great opportunity!'

A beautiful example of the unique rose messages takes place in Delft. At the restaurants Le Mariage, de Pijpela and The Bounge, diners will only find red roses of rosa&u on the tables. Tourists purposefully visit these restaurants to take pictures of these roses. De chef Ed Hoogendijk shows our roses every episode of the television programme 'Nederland proeft' (Holland tastes). He explains the reason: “I can cook with more feeling thanks to your roses around me. And my guests experience the food different and with more feeling. They become cheerful and are filled with positivism. Often the first topic of conversation is the vase with roses on the table!”

Rosa&u represents a completely different experience. Our rose always opens completely and emits a pleasant perfume. This subtle aroma may help people to fall in love. Take a rose with you to a date and butterflies will be all over the stomach. Hand over one rose at a condolence and every recipient understands your emotion and message. The rose is thé flower for joy and sorrow. One red rose is worth a thousand words.' Dear reader: It is almost Valentine! Our advise: give it a try!

New sorting and selection system IRISS

Rozenhof unique in consistent quality

Always supplying roses of consistent quality. This is the reason why nursery Rozenhof in Zevenhuizen invests in a completely new 'Intelligent Roses Inspection and Sorting System (IRISS). The expectations for this system are high.

By Frank de Klerk

'I know for sure that the position of Dutch rose growers will improve with IRISS', says IRISS designer Kees Bukman. 'Six years ago various parties started working together to set up a new selection system. Rose companies were still working with a technique designed in 1992. Yet this technique was largely obsolete already. On the one hand, too little had been invested, but on the other hand you could also say that about this technique, that it was very good. The machines, which are older than 20 years, are technically still in prime condition.'

Bukman is founder of the technology department of Aweta, a Nootdorp company which sold 350 rose processing machines. Nowadays he works with the team of his company 4More Technology bv on the modernisation and perfecting machinery. 'The latest development is the camera measuring technique; with this system roses can be delivered in 19 different sorting stations', Bukman says. 'This can only be accomplished by executing precise measurements. When a bouquet of roses passes through the machine ten times, the end result should also be the same ten times in a row.'

Two winners

The advantages of the new exact measuring system are huge. 'We not only supply a better product, but because of the improved selection each rose ends up in the right box for the maximum prise. The client can rely on standard bouquets of quality roses, which are the same every day. Because of IRISS, there will be two winners: the grower as well as the client'.

Sales manager Cor Broer of Rozenhof stresses the importance of IRISS: 'It is no point having a modern nursery with an unbalanced quality product. At the request of the customer we can supply roses with a separate quality label. Customization is possible, exactly according to the wish of the client. Whether it is related to the hight of the buds, with, stem thickness, length, flower, leaf or colour. If a client requests 150,000 roses of a certain bud size for the coming summer, we can check our database to see whether we will be able to supply the sufficient number of roes in that quality.'

Cooperation

The roses are sold via FloraHolland, but in cooperation with the trade. A considerable part is destined for export to Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Switzerland. 'Because of our short and direct lines with the trade, we try to keep a grip on our assortment', says Broer. 'An important criterion with the delivery is, that the trade companies meet the expectations of a repeat purchase. To put it simply: the trade and florist have to meet the expectations of the client. That client has to be satisfied in such a way that he will come back next week.'

IRISS

IRISS makes sure that the grower and client know where they stand. 'It is very rare that a company dares to tell a client that it can consistently supply the same quality. To our clients we offer the guarantee that the quality of the products they buy today, is the same quality as what the receive tomorrow. In that we are unique. There is room for improvement in our market regarding the supply of products with a consistent quality to the end user.

We supply a consistent quality that foreign suppliers cannot comply with. For instance when it comes to the speed of the delivery and meeting the specific wishes of the client. If a florist wishes to receive ten bouquets of a certain size, we can custom-make this for him. When the whole supply chain obtains a solid relationship with the client, we can create the most beautiful white rose that exists.'