Last week, Dutch trader JV Plant BV, who mainly exports to Scandinavia, Italy, Russia and the Baltic States, sent a first order for houseplants to Oman. And that's both a coincidence, says director Jan Vledder, as well as a nice addition to the business.
"With the green plants and the garden plants, you do relatively little business in the winter and you are looking for markets where you can make some sales. About 70% of the turnover is between March and September. But in those months, the demand from a country like Oman is at zero: in that period it's so hot over there that there is no trade at all. The demand is only during the 'winter months'."
The plants are prepared for shipment
The coincidence has to do with the connections. "We now have an Egyptian gentleman in our company, who is renting a small section from us and for years he is sending cut flowers to Egypt and the Middle East. His customers sometimes ask for plants, but he never meet the request. Now together we have forged a plan and we help each other."
The modest number of garden plants that Oman imports, comes mainly from Italy, Jan says, although those Italian growers often get the starting material from the Netherlands. In the Mediterranean country, the outdoor plants perform just a bit better than with us, even though houseplants are more appreciated by us Dutch.
However it is not so that JV Plant BV is now only seeing dollar signs. "Just like the United Emirates, Oman is a country where there often is a substantial budget for such a business, and the plants may be of a decent size. Our client mainly supplies the plants to showrooms and shops. Then there just must be volume. But you really need to see it as an addition: as mentioned, in summer there is no trade at all, transport is expensive and the market is limited, at least for the time being."
For more information:
JV Plant
Venus 170
2675 LN Honselersdijk
T: 01740614115
M: 0653720845
E: jan@jvplant.nl
www.jvplant.nl