Today , Elien is the third multiplication of the Pieters family who runs Gediflora . It all set off with the tomato - growing business of grandpa Georges . Dirk Pieters , Elien ’s dad , turned the company into a global leader , cultivate testis - shaped chrysanthemums , together with his right - script man Wim Declercq , who is still head breeder today . And as everyone knows , behind every great man stands a dedicated woman . Dirk ’s wife , Christine , is no elision to that rule .
Wim : " I started here on 25 November 2024 . That ’s almost forty years ago . I started as a labourer , and of track , the business was quite a lot modest then . When I started here , we were with just four employees .
I was hired as a picker , and at that time , everything was still done by hand : picking , planting carving , filling pots , setting out pots in the assailable , weed , etc . We still grow our own female parent plants here , and at that prison term , we were still working alone with chrysanthemums as the traditional flower for the 1st of November , intended for the Belgian and French markets . "
Dirk , was it obvious to you from the get-go that you would have to think outside the boxful to expand?Dirk : " When I made the decision to take over my parent ' company , I already knew through my contacts that there was a huge outside market for chrysanthemums that had nothing to do with the 1st of November . From there , the idea grew not to centre on ten different products but on one individual product , which would then be marketed worldwide . And then our ambition was to become as unspoilt as potential and to give birth top quality . When the French set out to intersect - pollinate and patent their plants in the eighty , I knew I had to make a decision : ' Either I start cross - pollinate myself , or I had to look for something else . ' There was n’t much time to waver or wait because it can easily take a good five years to market a new plant . "
Wim : " When we decide to set out working together with a Dutch company , Dirk told me that he had been invited to go to America to see how the chrysanthemum grew and flowered there . My wife does n’t want or dare to fly . I had already once made a trajectory in a humble sports airplane in Wevelgem , but that was all . Then I decide to take the dip . I garner all my braveness and told Dirk : ' I do n’t worry what it cost , but I desire to go . I will never get this fortune again in my animation . ' He wanted to think about it for a while , and after a few month , he correspond and said it was hunky-dory to come along . "
Dirk : " It is only when you go on site that you learn and that the eagerness to find out is very important . Wim was always my good bridge player , so he accompanied me . And my married woman , being leave - handed , was my left paw . "
Christine : " We were always on the same wavelength . We never felt restrict in our ambitions . In fact , we always had the same idea . We complemented each other very well . "
Today , it is by no means soft to enter the external market , but it must have been even harder in the past , especially from a technological point of survey . How did you approach this challenge , and how did you find the right job partners?Christine : " There is no interrogative that it was more difficult in the past than it is today . We did n’t have any mobile phones and computers were almost non - existent . You still had to go to a travelling agent to book airway tickets back then . "
Dirk : " In choosing our partners , I have always been manoeuver by marketplace repute . The strongest party is the one that count most to me . It is principally a question of outlook and attitude . It ’s not just about sale or turnover . For me , the main thing is that they have gullible finger , are driven , and have the right position . Nothing else interests me , no matter how high their turnover is . And therefore , it is important that you go and see for yourself . When we first started in America , I traveled to LA , New York , and Texas myself . Because it is just like in Europe , a Spaniard is not like a Swiss , and a West - Fleming is not like a Limburger . So you have to be out there in that market place yourself and get to have it off it . "
The beginning of the cooperation with Brazil has also been one of the milestones in the chronicle of your company , has n’t it?Dirk : " Yes , that ’s right . Again , my contacts played a decisive function . They convinced me to move the production of young plants to Brazil . Why ? Because as a effect , the plants were much firm and better . We needed those plant in February , March , and April . What sort of weather do we have here during these month ? The climate there is so much more favourable for our plants . "
Wim : " You could n’t equate a cutting from Brazil with one produced here . Brazilian cutting took beginning within ten days , while ours needed 15 , 16 , or 17 day . Moreover , all their cuttings were the same . The difference in caliber was tremendous , and that was critical . Of of course , there is also the price difference of opinion , but the primary reason why we went to Brazil was strictly because of the quality . "
Have you managed to prove a name for yourself on an international level as well?Wim : " I have to say that I really had to adjust mentally , and today I feel that I was a bit to pick for that . This is also something I advise my children : it is significant to learn languages at school . I call back saying to my French teacher when I was at a horticultural school day : ' I do n’t involve to make love French to peach to my prime . ' But how I regret not having done more to learn a extraneous spoken communication ! When you are vernal , you think you do n’t require to bother , and at that years , you do n’t realize how important voice communication skills are . At horticultural school , we had one hour of English a week . Nothing much at all . But later on , you go to America on business , so you watch by doing , by trial and error , but you manage . The first time we go to Brazil , we were sitting around the negotiating table with five masses from the Brazilian company . They , include the CEO , the planner , and the person in charge , are on one side , and Dirk and I are on the other side . At the start of the meeting , they say : ' Please , go ahead ! ' . We sit there with our mouths open , the exertion ran down my back , that is how nervous I was . Now I no longer find nervous , but I was really perspire in those days . "
For more data : GedifloraSchierveldestraat 14B-8840 Oostnieuwkerke , Belgium+32 ( 0)51 26 88 88[email protected]www.gediflora.be
