A bad part of all commercially sell ferns globally develop from Vitro Plus in Burgh - Haamstede , the Netherlands . The answer to the enquiry ' how did they manage that ? ' is of course of study not square , but if there is someone who can give us a slight insight , it is Ellen Kraaijenbrink . At the troupe , Ellen is not only co - responsible for for the sales and marketing , she also celebrated her 20th anniversary last month . Ellen in one of the growing rooms of the company
A set can happen in twenty years . The company was already doing well back then : they were rise fern , selling them globally and the company was not yet in Burgh - Haamstede , but close-fitting to Renesse . " We were in Portacabins , next to a farmhouse in which the caller was constitute back then and we farm from there . When I link up the company , all sales , asunder from owner - manager John Bijl , were done by one woman . By now , the sale team has expanded to eight masses led by Vincent van Vuuren , and in that time the company has also grown from about 10 FTE to around 60 FTE now . "
StreamlinedSoon the move to Burgh - Haamstede followed , where a Charles Martin Hall was purchased . This is where an crucial part of the production took place and where ' the product line ' was introduce , a more aerodynamic mode of working in which the whole process from Petri dish to plant tray became one fluent trend . At first , a part of the production remained in Renesse , which was not very virtual due to the continuous travel back and onward of works material . Eventually , this problem was solved by actuate the entire company to the new emplacement .
Inside and outsideGood housing is a requirement for increase , but it obviously require more than just that . For example , the production kitchen range has grown strongly as well . Twenty old age ago , the product mountain range was much smaller and only comprise of tropical ferns . late they bestow hardy fern , a whole unlike news report , as multiplication happens from spore instead of tissue paper culture . Due to both practical and hygiene circumstance , both operation have since recently been whole secernate .
Things can changeNow , they have more industrial plant than customers . " Twenty years ago we had about 100 diverseness , " Ellen says , " now the amount triple . " This is , aside from the undoubtedly terrific sales skills of Ellen and her colleagues , due to a particular reason : the market has completely changed . " We can barely keep up now , everything sells really fast , but it has not always been this way . It has been years of pull and dragging and it ordinarily does not find on its own . These preceding four , five years , demand is increasing and boom out by the pandemic . "
Ferns for mothersSo far , as the entire plant mart will agree , this shopping craze continue . This is not just the casing in Europe , but also in the US , where Vitro Plus has many customer . " The market in the US is less sensitive to tendency , the consumer buys more traditionally . Ferns are often in hang basketful , gravid and multitude are eager to pay for it . The fern is also , surprisingly , a popular product around Mother ’s Day . lately , however , we have been note some shift . Orders are becoming larger and multitude want to diversify . The demand for new varieties , for striking flavour , for something unusual , is grow hugely , in the US as well . "
Ellen has not always puzzle out in this industry . After the local holidaymaker berth , a job as a receptionist at an architectural company and several years at dwelling house with the children , she finally knocked on John ’s door . " For just 15 hr a week at first , which continued to become more . Flexibility was never a job . I practically had no knowledge concerning fern . After about seven years in the spot I attended a trade honest and that is how everything started . Now I arrange our engagement to the dissimilar exhibition , I am responsible for our merchandising and I am in gross revenue . Along the way , I discovered that I really enjoy the real merchandising , as well as bring in raw client and maintaining our web . My parents used to own a supermarket , so that might be where I got my commercial inherent aptitude from . "
peregrine climate cells serve up as a temporary solution to produce more
ExpansionTo this day , John is still the Sales Director . His previous companion , Kees Zevenbergen , has been retired for quite some time , and about twenty old age ago Ard Stoutjesdijk joined the squad as codirector - proprietor . This past year was ' the best yr so far ' concerning sale . They never have sold this many fern and never have had this many order of magnitude , re - orders and after - orders to process . This is wonderful , of course , but it does mean the production capacity has to increase . For now , this problem can be solved by usingextra clime cells , which are a case of containers in which ' run - vehicles ' are tug into and in which the production can be increased by two million excess plants during peak clip . Yet this is merely a irregular root , which is why , Ellen concludes , construction will start soon . A piece of the neighbors ’ land has been bought , the paperwork is being done at the second and the construction will start next year .
For more information : Vitro Plus B.V.Ellen Kraaijenbrink+31 ( 0)111 46 80 88[email protected]www.vitroplus.nl
