FlowerWatch starts a franchise company in Tokyo
“For many years they have been in close contact with Japan. We are aware that there is a real need for a benchmark, a quality standard, and we might contribute to it. To be able to even better offer our service, it is necessary to be physically present. Quite a few years went by – this is the way it goes in Japan – and now we have finally realised this in the form of a franchise company,” explains Onne Böcker of FlowerWatch.
FlowerWatch Japan aims to enforce the position of Japanese flowers on the global market. The franchise is headed by Tomokazu Morishige, former director of MPS Japan, specialist in certification of flowers and a board member of the Japanese Floral Marketing Association. FlowerWatch Japan will focus on both the domestic Japanese market as on imports and exports.
According to Morishige the FlowerWatch-concept will be of major significance to the supply chain in the flower sector. “With this concept we can help clients with optimalising their harvesting and the sorting and packaging of flowers, but also analyse and improve the quality of the cold chain as well,” said Morishige. Jeroen van der Hulst, director of FlowerWatch Nederland, adds to that: “Many players in the flower business are enthusiastic about the positive impact our approaches had on product quality, vase life and finally profit. We take on the whole chain; taking the performance and margins of all players forward.''
Cold chain management is key
The central concept in the approach of FlowerWatch is the cold chain management. Van der Hulst: “The temperature exposure during storage and transport contributes to discoloration, wilting, poor flower budding and more. The result is a considerably shortened vase life. Cold chain management is crucial for success in the flower business."
FlowerWatch has offices in the Netherlands and Kenya and serves clients - mainly many large retailers, who are willing to re-enforce their supply chain – in Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. “Of course the whole chain benefits from a qualitatively strong product. But before the flower bunch reaches the consumer, the retailer is the owner. Other parties may try to get away with it, but in the retail there is no alternative. That is why the latter is our primary customer group.”
For more information:
FlowerWatch BV
Onno Böcker
P.O. Box 75
2370 AB Roelofarendsveen
T: +31713319058
M: +31611512362
E: [email protected]
www.flowerwatch.com