"We seek to create added value for our customers while building durable relationships," says Jan-Marc Oosting, CEO of Elburg-Smit. The Dutch printing house presents itself as the "creative partner of the horticultural industry" as it specializes in the production of horticulture labels, packaging, and promotion material. This year, the company celebrates its 90th anniversary. Throughout the years Elburg-Smit evolved and so did the industry. In this article Oosting and Gerard van Rijn (account manager at Elburg-Smit) elaborate on some of the latest trends that they observed and the Elburg Online System.
Labels and packaging as marketing tools
The two men noticed that labels and consumer packaging are increasingly used as marketing tools. They find that increased prices, geopolitical dynamics and other factors make that growers have to make their products stand out to sell them to consumers. "One way to do so is using more striking labels and packaging, through applying different designs growers can target specific consumer groups. To meet the different needs of all those consumer groups, a more diverse assortment became a must." In line with the former, they find that large retailers are no longer buying large volumes of the same product. Instead, they notice that retailers order smaller quantities of all kinds of different products.
To support growers and retailers in their marketing efforts, Elburg-Smit seeks to provide growers with a wide range of customized products. They offer three main product groups, tags & labels, flower bulb cappercards and Smartcups®, and increasingly also POS material. Oosting and van Rijn: "All those products can be ordered in variable quantities and different, tailored designs. As we take care of the entire production and design process, lead times are relatively short and orders can be placed at short notice."
An impression of Elburg-Smit's customized products
Additionally, Elburg-Smit cooperates closely with Visions Pictures and offers botanical images through their database. These images can be used for labels and packaging produced by the company. Oosting and Van Rijn emphasize that the importance of images should not be underestimated as many plants are already sold before they flower, this especially the case for bulb flowers. "Images are used to give customers an idea of what the plant or bulb will look like and therefore must be a true representation of the product. Throughout the years, the industry also increasingly used these images to provide suggestions for the use of flowers and plants."
Images being used for labels and packaging
International operations and the EOS
Elburg-Smit serves customers from all over the world. "Approximately 4-5 % of our production is destined for the Dutch market, the rest goes to other countries. Think of Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain, Italy and North-America. We also see much growth in Poland and all of Central/Eastern Europe." Oosting and van Rijn emphasize that every market is different. "We need to adapt to each of those markets. For instance, in North-America we specialize in providing services for customers that are looking for an alternative to standardized labels and tags."
To serve all those customers in different countries and time zones, Elburg-Smit developed the Elburg Online System (EOS). The EOS is a tool that Elburg-Smit customers can use to create and manage labels and consumer packaging. The system was launched fifteen years ago, and has since developed. Today, EOS allows customers to immediately see the labels that are created. Moreover, they can also adjust and approve it. "It saves a lot of time and a lot of e-mails, it's more efficient. The more so because it doesn't require any additional software, it only requires an internet connection. In other words, EOS is extremely valuable for our international customers," comment Oosting and van Rijn. Further, the system is also connected to the Vision Pictures database and is available in English, German, and Dutch.
90th Anniversary
This year, Elburg-Smit exists 90 years. The last 30 years, the company has been owned by a foundation. Oosting and Van Rijn explain that this was a decision made by founder Rene van Elburg. "He didn't have a successor in the family. Rather than selling the company, he chose to adapt the company's ownership structure to ensure the continuity of jobs and of Elburg-Smit. One of the advantages is that the shareholder will invest in improving our products and services for our customers."
Elburg-Smit is also 30 years ISO 9001-certified, something which they are proud of. "This certification underlines the quality of our products, customer focus and our management. Our ISO 14001-certificate underlines our attention for sustainability. We see that especially our European customers increasingly attach value to this aspect. Generally speaking, we find that there is increased attention for sustainability. Nowadays, it's not all about the prices, product also should be sustainable. Companies increasingly opt for sustainable choices, partly because retailers demand this, discount retailers too. We expect that this trend will continue."
Currently, the company is concerned with building an extension of 4000 square meters (about 1 acre) to the present facility, which is expected to be finished at the end of this year. "It will provide us with new opportunities to expand our services." They will celebrate the 90th anniversary when the project is finished.
For more information:
Elburg-Smit B.V.
Wasbeekerlaan 12
2171 AB Sassenheim, the Netherlands
T: +31 (0)252 261 300
elburgsmit.com