In a new series, Royal Flora Holland is giving the floor to CEO Steven van Schilfgaarde. Once every four weeks, he gives his view on the past period. This time, he talks more about the pricing of the past few weeks, the reputation of ornamental horticulture, and much more.
Pricing
"The past few weeks have been characterized by very good flower pricing, with the caveat that supplies of roses and some other products were considerably lower than last year. The weather in Africa clearly played tricks on the rose. Plant pricing lagged disappointingly, accompanied by disappointing sales on the clock. Overall, the volume decline was higher than the average in the previous months. I hope the plant supply will recover for the rest of the year. The same goes for lagging flower varieties."
Reputation ornamentals
"Good pricing means there is still a lot of demand for our products. But the reputation of floriculture requires constant attention. Targeted sector communication is needed to feed positive perceptions and be resilient in case of negative reports. Recent media coverage of the discharge of banned substances into surface water and the use of migrant workers with falsified papers show how vulnerable we are. Both within greenhouse horticulture and ornamental horticulture, we work closely with all relevant sector organizations. For instance, I had a constructive introductory meeting with the new chairman of the KAVB. The outside world looks at us as floriculture or greenhouse horticulture and doesn't care about how we are organized. That is why we have to keep the ranks closed and work together and strengthen each other."
Consultation certification scheme
"In August, the consultation for the certification scheme for 'Small-scale Growers' took place under the banner of FSI. Sustainability in the broadest sense is very important to future-proof our sector. One initiative where steps were taken last month is the introduction of the Euro Plant Tray (EPT). This new reusable plant tray should further reduce plastic waste. EPT is important in the context of making the sector further sustainable."
Floriday
"Within Royal FloraHolland, we are working hard to optimize both our digital platform and our logistics platform. Floriday is crucial within this. To be successful together, all partners in the chain need to take steps in digitalization. That's the path to making the chain more efficient. Users are increasingly seeing Floriday's opportunities and possibilities. Based on users' input and wishes, the Floriday team is constantly adding functions or improving existing applications. The covenant we recently signed with trading companies is an important impetus for a thriving future for Floriday and thus the industry."
Select Delivery
"An example of a new logistics function is Select Delivery in Floriday. With it, the buyer determines the delivery time. He can specify the time period he wants to activate per day, product, and buyer plate. Since 3 September, buyers in both Rijnsburg and Naaldwijk have been at the controls themselves thanks to Select Delivery in Floriday. In a dashboard in Floriday, the buyer can adjust the time slots for the upcoming week at any time of the day. Another important logistical milestone is the start of order-picking plants at our hub in Aalsmeer. So much for this first impression. Next time, we will cover other topics."
Source: royalfloraholland.com