Orlandelli has been in business for nearly 40 years and decided to enter to the US market in 2012. "We noticed that European's technology in the floral and horticultural industry was more advanced than in the USA. We saw it as an opportunity to grow", says Slemp.
After investing a lot of time in visiting garden centers and nurseries in the US, they got the opportunity to demonstrate some of their benches at some companies. "We could finally show and prove what we were telling." Currently, with the focus on optimizing all spaces, the costs per square foot and designing sales areas, they offered several growers and garden centers a solution in regards to the use of water and irrigating the plants.
Below, Slemp gives examples of four major problems that can be solved or reduced easily with the use of the right benches. "And in the first two examples, it is possible for a small operation to have already seen a return on their investment."
1. Excess water on the floors
"Excess water on the floors from both draining of pots and the actual watering process. It creates a hazard, and sadly there are some who seek out litigious opportunities, but a ebb and flow system eliminates the hazard."
2. High labor costs for showering the plants
According to Slemp, the labor costs for showering the plants are high. "Doing the math: 20 hours weekly labor for showering plants x 9 dollars= $180 per week which is $8640 annually."
3. High water consumption
Next to the fact that labor is expensive, manual showering often also results in a waste of water. "A bench can save, on average, up to 70% on water consumed."
4. Waste due to inaccurate watering
On top of that, inaccurate watering can lead to shrinkage or waste. "This may be the most significant numbers of all you will see different. Less waste means more product to sell and sold product means cash profits". says Slemp. Last summer, Orlandelli carried out a pilot store test for home depot and a third party data extraction was done. The data from home depot and the other companies data were then broken down into dollars and according to Slemp, when comparing to the pilot home depot’s data of last year with this year’s, there was a significantly different. "By using the benches alone the decrease in shrinkage was 26% less, which allowed more product to be sold. This resulted in a profit of 65k USD."
Orlandelli Group
Today, the Orlandelli Group is a corporation of 6 companies: the technical department, the consulting group, the landscaping section, their own Garden Center “Valle dei Fiori” (which happens to be the largest in all of Europe), their own Nursery “Valle Giardini” (where they test and perfect each and every product they offer as a test to ensure its perfected and ready to be offered with their name on it), and the USA corporation.
For more information
Orlandelli GroupAlex Slemp
Email: orlandelli.group@outlook.com
www.orlandelli.us