Gerard van der Deijl reached an agreement with Ethio Vegfru Group Plc regarding the take over of his company Lafto Roses in Ethiopia. According to van der Deijl, his age is the main reason to say goodbye to the Ethiopian business and his children have no interest in further exploiting the company.
Over the last 15 years, Van der Deijl in cooperation with local management expanded the farm and made it one of the larger exporters of roses in East Africa.
Lafto Roses is specialized in growing medium-sized roses in the higher quality segment for delivery to the traditional florist. In addition, an important part is being sold on the Dutch auctions.
In recent years, Gerard van der Deijl has been closely involved in the daily business. He estimates to have flown back and forth (Netherlands - Ethiopia) about 120 times since 2005, when he started building the nursery some ten kilometers from the capital, Addis Ababa. During that period, on a plot of grassland belonging to the Ethiopian government, a modern nursery was built with 37 hectares of plastic foil greenhouses which employs 600 local workers every day.
"We are very happy with this transaction," says Gerard, mainly because Lafto Roses Plc. continues to exist as a subsidiary of Ethio Vegfru under its own trusted name. Vegfru has 1,800 employees and is a specialized and renowned production company of fruit and vegetables in Ethiopia. The Vegfru Group is active worldwide in various markets, including horticulture, retail, food service, industry and agriculture. By taking over the rose farm Lafto Roses Plc., it is substantially expanding its retail activities in several markets worldwide.
For more information
Lafto Roses
https://www.laftoroses.com/
Van der Deijl Roses B.V.
Gerard van der Deijl
E: gerard@vanderdeijl.nl
www.vanderdeijlroses.com