Fresh Chain, a Dutch flower importing company, and Ecuadorian flower producer Hoja Verde have news to share. Recently, Hoja Verde acquired a majority of the shares in Fresh Chain, leading to the integration of Fresh Chain into the Hoja Verde Group. "This strategic move allows us to increase the level of service to our existing client base and reach new potential clients that don't have the logistic lines from Ecuador to Holland," comments Ed Groot from Fresh Chain.
From left to right: Ed Groot, Eduardo Letort, and Hernan Davila
Intensified cooperation
He emphasizes that the two companies are long-time business partners, and that this cooperation lays the basis for further integration. Ed: "We have been working closely together for 26 years and know each other very well. We decided to intensify our cooperation as we share the same philosophy when it comes to (business) ethics and the market segment that we seek to serve. We already talk about stronger cooperation for a few years, but things got concrete about half a year ago."
Ed shares that one of the main objectives of the integration is that clients no longer perceive Fresh Chain as a middleman with its own interests, but as an additional part of the Hoja Verde Group. Through the merger, the Group aims to make logistic processes more efficient while also expanding its services. "It allows us to better organize the supply chain and distribution for our customers. We can take care of the entire process so that our clients can focus on their own business." Ed explains.
Addressing industry challenges and exploring new markets
Aside from expanding its services package, the Hoja Verde Group expects that the integration of Fresh Chain helps to address some of the challenges that the flower industry is currently experiencing. "Higher costs and complexities with skilled personnel, digitalization, and logistics bring serious challenges to many flower importers, wholesalers, and florists. The industry is still very fragmented with many small companies that will not be able to have full control on all steps from source to shelf," Ed explains.
With this new consolidation of Fresh Chain and Hoja Verde in Aalsmeer, the Hoja Verde Group expects to solve some of these challenges that the industry faces and will face in the near future. "We see that integration of different actors in the chain results in better control of flowers' journey from farm to shop. In addition, logistic efficiencies will help to somewhat compensate the continuous increase of costs.
"Moreover, the Hoja Verde Group expects that the integration of Fresh Chain also opens doors to new markets, saying: "We want to attract new markets that we previously didn't reach such as the Asian market. We want to also become a hub for markets in Asia and the Middle East."
For more information:
Hoja Verde
www.hojaverde.com.ec