Cooperating together
Cooperating together
FloraHolland 2020 strategy
positively received
FloraHolland 2020 is ‘ready to go’. Thanks to the generous input from members, customers and staff,
FloraHolland can proudly present a strategy during the general members’ meeting in December that
will make the cooperative future-proof. This month the management will again travel around the
country to discuss final adjustments with members and customers that were suggested during the
first round.
D
irector Lucas Vos explained once again during a
special press conference at the Trade Fair why
FloraHolland needs a new strategy now.
He looked back at the history of the cooperative, at the
present and especially at the future.
Peaks and troughs
The first flower auction was established in 1911, which
developed into a cooperative flower auction in 1912.
This was the beginning of a continuously growing
cooperative. Lucas: “In the 1960s exports increased
rapidly as a result of the Treaty of Rome. This growth
continued until the beginning of the new century.
Even before the crisis of 2008, sales had clearly
stabilised, especially for flowers. The crisis produced
an acceleration. Consumers today are spending less
on flowers and plants. Dark clouds rolled in over
FloraHolland and the sector as a result of the rising
costs and falling prices for our members. In addition,
growers and dealers find each other outside the auction
increasingly often, which leads to a reduction in the
clock volume. Finally, we notice the market is shifting to
other countries. We have to do something if we want to
face the future confidently.”
True identity found
The strategy summed up in one sentence
‘Flowering the world together, Planting Seeds of
Opportunity for our Members’: the new modernised
mission of the cooperative. “It covers everything
we stand for. Flowering and Planting: our two core
products. Together, or cooperatively, is our new key
value. FloraHolland is going to join up the links in the
horticultural chain. We shall become the party binding the
chain together. ‘Planting Seeds of Opportunity’, creating
possibilities for the sector, is our most important task.
We must reach the consumer, they must spend more on
flowers and plants. Finally, ‘for our Members’: we are not
doing this for ourselves, but for our members and their
customers.” The mission is deliberately formulated in
English. “It’s not just about the Netherlands. It’s not just
about Europe. It’s about the whole world. FloraHolland
wants to be the leading marketplace worldwide.”
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While the market was changing, FloraHolland seemed
to be standing still for a long time, until 2013. “Then
we implemented the Kompas, which ensured that our
operation remained healthy in the short term. But
it is not adequate enough for the future. Members
and customers were wondering: what is FloraHolland
and what can and will it mean for us? In the past few
years we have developed many services and worked
on many projects, but there was no continuity. It was
no longer clear what we stood for and what all these
services actually added. Eevryone required more clarity.
We therefore examined several aspects in depth: the
external developments, current and future trends,
and then our authentic strength. Our strength lies
primarily in our financial and logistics service provision,
and in addition people experience us as a strong
marketplace. We scored lower in the fields of innovation
and promotion.” These findings were included in the
development of the FloraHolland 2020 strategy.
Overwhelming turnout
‘Better margins for our members and their customers,
more consumers spending more on flowers and plants’
are the two aims of the new strategy. A strategy
that was created together with the members. Lucas
confirms, “We can’t do this alone and that would not be
desirable within a cooperative.
We therefore set out in October to present the strategy
proposal to our members, their customers and our staff
all over the country. Their input on the future of their
cooperative, their company, is essential. The turnout
during these meetings was overwhelming. We received a
total of over 2,100 responses. The thing that I noted most
among the attendees was a feeling of relief. A sense
of ‘Now there is clarity. It is clear what FloraHolland
wants to be.’ The content of the strategy proposal was
very positively received, and contributions actively
suggested how to make this idea as complete as possible
while taking everyone’s interests into account.” Both
members and customers were struck by the point that
FloraHolland wants to do more for promotion. “In all of
the meetings, this was emphasised as ‘the point’ that it is
all about. We are going in circles if we do not encourage
the consumers to start spending more on flowers and
plants. If we don’t, the prices will drop further and
margins for our members and their customers will shrink
even more. That is the last thing we want, and with the
new strategy we shall ensure more consumer purchases.”
It seems like child’s play. Lucas stresses, however, that
the most difficult part is still to come. “We all agree on
the main themes in the new strategy, but soon we shall
have to make concrete choices. These choices will not be
comfortable for some, but they do serve the interest of
the cooperative as a whole.” For the staff, FloraHolland
2020 will have good and bad aspects. “A ‘more efficient
marketplace’ means fewer job openings in the future.
Luckily, sensible people work at FloraHolland.
They realise that less clock volume means less work.
On the other hand, this change of course brings
opportunities as well. There are aspects that we shall
approach differently, for example the use of the virtual
marketplace and naturally promotional activities.
There are opportunities for our staff there.”
Working out the last details together
This month the management of FloraHolland will
again travel around the country to show what effect
the feedback from members has had and how it has
influenced the strategy proposal. “We shall be holding
regional meetings again and hope naturally that the
turnout will be just as impressive as before. The strategy
is more or less definitive. Together we shall work out
the last details during the meetings. At the general
members’ meeting in December, the final strategy will
be presented. We shall be showing our members the
entire process we went through over all these months,
and what input from them we included and what we did
not and why.
Talk to us. Visit the regional meetings!
Want to know everything about the FloraHolland 2020
strategy? Then visit one of the regional meetings in
November. There you will have plenty of opportunity to
ask questions. Would you like to know when and where
a meeting is being held near you?
Look at www.floraholland.com. We hope to see you at
one and of course at the general members’ meeting in
Naaldwijk on December 11!
6 november 2014
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