Outdoor plants are hot and at Heboplant, they can barely keep up with the demand. They import tropical plants from Spain, Italy, Taiwan, and Central America which they sell to customers all over Europe after acclimatizing and packing them at their facility in Maasdijk (NL). This time of the year is their peak period, with plants flying off the shelves to their clients all over Europe. Usually, their growers have a surplus, but this year, their fields are completely empty, explains Frank Doorduin, who runs the company together with his two brothers. "The big question now is, how will it be next year? Will we have enough?"
Frank Doorduin in between the palms, their main product.
Demand extremely high
According to Doorduin, the demand has been - and still is - extremely high. "Our peak period runs from March till June, but last year, after the dramatic dip we've had in March, things picked up quickly and demand increased sharply. We were shipping out a lot of products after June, throughout the summer." In turn, this year's orders are larger. "There is a scarcity of products on the market, so the demand is very high."
A peek inside their facility
How will it be in the coming years?
Heboplant can barely meet the demand at the moment, so how will this trend continue in the next year(s)? It is a question many in the industry ask themselves. "Due to the pandemic, more people stayed at home and we expect many will probably stay at home this summer too. Therefore, demand for plants is high, resulting in large orders."
Will people continue buying plants post-COVID?
Expectations are high and the orders of their clients are getting bigger and bigger. However, scarcity will remain an issue. Last year, in March, several of our growers decided to plant less, so next year, or in the coming years for the larger plants, we will experience more shortages."
Palms just arrived out of Spain.
Labor
On top of scarcity, finding labor is becoming an challenge as well. "It is physically hard work and in spring, people need to make long days, whereas there is not that much work for them in autumn. So, even though we will find more product to sell, we still need enough hands to process them."
How the plants are being transported in the trucks
Busy season
Last week, FloralDaily visited Heboplant when they were working very hard to get their orders out on time. "This year, the plants were a bit late, due to the colder weather, so in the coming weeks a lot of plants will come and leave their facility. "In a period of three weeks, 250,000 plants will leave our facility."
For more information:
Heboplant
Frank Doorduin
Email: [email protected]
www.heboplant.nl/