A florist, grower or exporter wants to ensure that their products stand out from the rest. One way of doing this is through presentation and packaging. From this desire, a market has developed over the years which is extremely competitive. The choice of packaging materials is overwhelming - and so the inevitable question is: how do you stand out?
Age Siebbeles with one of his kraft products
Marketing manager at Dillewijn Zwapak, Age Siebbeles, has an opinion about this. "We have a large standard range and the spring/summer and autumn/winter range. But we're a long way off that. Therefore we have also developed special lines for holidays such as Mother's Day or Muguet in France. But even then, you are still not there. It's really about knowing what the market wants. What is the market demanding now? That is always the first question and to keep up to date with that is always a challenge.”
Kraft Paper
The logical question is therefore what is the market demand at the moment? "At the moment, people often want to combine materials, for example fabric / textile with paper," says Siebbeles. "Another striking trend is the demand for covers and packaging made from Kraft paper. Natural projects, natural materials and natural fabrics is trending. And it is a bit retro. That was how the old Dillewijn began in the first place," laughs Siebbeles, "wrapping flowers in newspaper."
Sustainable
These developments are in line with the general trend for sustainable and biodegradable products. "In this area, there is definitely room for more profit. In the foodstuff industry, they are already ahead of us. The demand for sustainability is even stronger there. That is of course because food is a necessity. We have developed a sustainable foil called Environ, but in the branch where we operate, the introduction of such material is slower. But regulations will ensure that this process will speed up, that's for sure.”
Shifting Chains
Dillewijn Zwapak and its competitors are continuing to get more involved in the chain. A florist is perhaps more likely to actively seek out his own material, but a larger grower or exporter is happy to be influenced. "For this reason we opened our first office in Kenya 10 years ago, as one of the first. For years, production has been increasing there and therefore also the demand for packaging. But there are two sides to this. We are going further up the chain, but different operators in the chain are also coming to us with more specific wishes. Therefore it is becoming more and more important for us to work specifically for particular clients.”
Vaselife
A growing branch in the Dillewijn Group is Vaselife. Vaselife is a subsidiary that develops flower food and produces for the whole chain, from grower to end consumer. "We can deliver exactly the same as our competitors, but cheaper," explains Siebbeles. "At our offices, we have a testing lab, where we test different care products on cut flowers. We test our own substances against those of our competitors, and we also regularly test at the request of our clients. In this way, we try to stay ahead of the competition by delivering Vaselife products that fit the exact requirements of our clients.”
For more information:
Dillewijn Zwapak
Age Siebbeles
Manager Marketing & Communication
T: +31 297 354141
M: +31 (0) 6 535 100 51
E: a.siebbeles@dillewijn.nl
www.dillewijn.nl