Lourens van Geest, the founder of potted plant nursery LVG Plants in South Africa, celebrates his 80th birthday today, January 9. He was born and raised in the Westland area of the Netherlands and immigrated to South Africa in 1983, where he founded LVG Plants in 1985. Together with his three sons, who are running the 11-ha nursery in Krugersdorp, he developed the company into one of the largest and most modern nurseries in the area of sustainability in South Africa. Even though Lourens retired in 2009, he is still closely involved with the company and has an advisory role. But how did his South African adventure start, and what made it such a success? His son Geert tells us.
How it all started
Lourens discovered a passion for flowers and plants early in his adult life. Geert: "He was in the navy, but at a young age, at 17, he had a serious accident. He then started growing freesias, lilies, and carnations with his father, Ivo Jan (IJ), in Naaldwijk, the Netherlands. One day, a South African flower grower visited their nursery to view the newly built greenhouse, after which he asked my father to come and work for him in South Africa, and that's how it all started. Together with our mother, he first visited the country and shortly afterward decided to take on the adventure."
Lourens started as a buyer at the flower auction in Johannesburg for the family that founded the auction, the Toxopeus family, who also ran a large cut flower nursery. "Together with this family, he founded LVG Plants and 1995, acquired all the shares, becoming the sole owner. Then, the company gradually moved to its current location in Krugersdorp. My brothers and I all joined the company and subsequently took over the day-to-day management before our father's retirement. Each of us has his own field of expertise."
Proud
The brothers are very proud of their father. "Firstly, for his courage to embark on this adventure. At that time, moving from Naaldwijk to another town was already a big step, let alone emigrating to a country 10,000 km away. We also admire his perseverance, something you really need to have in a country like South Africa, but also the calmness he has in him and how he can absorb setbacks. One of our biggest setbacks was the tornado in 2017 that destroyed 3 hectares of the nursery in a matter of minutes. Where we panicked, he remained calm and immediately thought of solutions. He is good at overseeing and thinking things through and, of course, has immense experience. Another example is how he deals with energy prices. These have gone up enormously in recent times, but while this caused us to hesitate, he advised us to invest further. He compares it to gas prices in the Netherlands in the 1980s, which were also very high then but eventually went down again. But above all, he owes his success to simply working hard, Westland-style."
"In case of problems or challenges, we always think of him and how he would solve it. For this, we are very pleased that he is still involved in the company and that he is providing us with advice. An example is the numerous power cuts we face in South Africa. We have recently purchased large battery storage units, which will be used in combination with the newly installed PV panels to curb the effect of the power cuts."
Sustainability
Sustainability is a high priority for Lourens and the company. "Becoming a carbon-neutral company is a wish of our father and now it has also become a goal of our company." The brothers have already invested significantly in recent years. For instance, they have one of the largest thermal solar collector fields in the southern hemisphere and have also recently installed 1 megawatt of PV panels. Additional investments related to making the company even more sustainable are in the pipeline.
Dutch/Westland Party
Lourens' birthday was already celebrated last Saturday with a performance by Peter Kruithof, lead singer and guitarist of the famous Westland band, Kromme Jongens. For Lourens, it was a bit like going back to his roots. Also, because Peter is his cousin. "We had him and his wife come over, and he wrote a song, especially for my father's birthday. What a wonderful evening that was!"
For more information:
LVG plants
www.lvgplant.co.za