Floréac is celebrating its 70th birthday. In order to honour this moment we gathered some of our long-standing partners to reflect on the joint development of our cooperation, across generations. To mark the occasion, you can also find their special celebration offer in our 70 Years – 70 Days of Deals promotion! Join us for this one-of-a-kind celebration—you’ll love being part of it!
Say pot chrysanthemum and people immediately think of SV.CO. This grower with branches in De Lier and Maasdijk has almost single-handedly managed to turn this underrated plant into a true phenomenon. Its popularity is not only due to the special properties of the pot chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemums, such as fairly easy care and a long flowering period. SV.CO’s excellent quality, logistic efficiency and wide range also played a crucial role. Furthermore, SV.CO focuses in particular on diversity, sustainability and digitalisation.
What can you tell us about the pioneering period at the beginning of working with Floréac?
The cooperation between Floréac and SV.CO goes beyond the name SV.CO. In 2006, potted plant growers Strijbis and Verbeek merged, becoming Strijbisverbeek and later SV.CO. With that merger, Handelskwekerij Gebr. Boekestijn was acquired. Boekestijn was one of the most progressive growers of pot chrysanthemums in the 1970s and 1980s and also supplied Floré back then.
To this day, people still work at SV.CO who worked at Boekestijn back then and did trade with Floréac.
They tell: “We sold, for example, yuccas and coconut palms to Floré, obviously also pot chrysanthemums. During the winter period, it was difficult to grow chrysanthemums, so instead we took a full truck of azaleas back from Lochristi every weekend, via Floré. We then pulled these into bloom at Boekestijn. We got the azaleas from the field ourselves, beforehand we got a plate of kale and a few beers, back then that was quite common.”
That Belgian friendliness can still be seen in Floréac’s DNA today. The collaboration is professional, with an informal approach.
Is there a (funny) anecdote you can tell about our collaboration?
Mike Broch, who was account manager from SV.CO for Floréac for many years, talks about the good relationship he had with his contacts:
“Frank Reijgersberg, one of the pioneers of then Floréac Netherlands, I always found (in a positive sense) an eccentric man, difficult to gauge. That’s why I asked him once if I could join him on a customer visit in Belgium. I thought, the only way I can learn to understand him is to spend a whole day in a car with him. And that’s what we did. He picked me up early in the morning and we arrived back home in the evening. I got a tour of Floréac, presented our product range in the office at Auchan and we visited some more shops. I learned a lot from and about him. It had a positive effect on our contact and the trade we did.”
The willingness to work together and the drive to grow together is always there between our companies. Working together is never without challenges, but through open communication and mutual support, we always come out of it.
The personal contacts have led to a fantastic collaboration in which we strengthen each other.
How has the business relationship developed over the years?
Our relationship has developed positively over the years, with ups and downs, and is now stable and strong. We still see many opportunities for the future. At Floréac, we find that personal contact plays an essential role in our growth. ‘Everything you give attention to, grows’. When we launch a new Chrysanthemum on the market, we first call Geert to look at the trials. The same goes for kalanchoes at Lisette’s.
We greatly appreciate Floréac buying our full range of: Chrysanthemums, Kalanchoes, Lisi Lova’s, Celosias, Primulas and Poinsettias! We also owe the positive relationship to the fact that you were engaged early on with data and shared insights with us. This open approach has allowed us to grow and improve.
This collaborative approach has only made our cooperation stronger and ensured mutual success.