'Starting from April, the whole greenhouse is covered by a purple blanket'

Jeffrey Ammerlaan and Gertjan Sosef are the managing directors of flowering pot plant nursery Ammerlaan-Sosef in Honselersdijk. The father of Gertjan, Ard Sosef, was thinking about the company’s future already in its early days and soon bought a second location. Jeffrey was in the final year of his education at the time. Gertjan was working for the grower as a part-timer and had just finished school. It was the perfect time for him to join the company. “Gertjan has slowly become like a brother to me!” says Jeffrey. “We complement each other so well character wise, it only made sense that we’d work together.”

Jeffrey: "My father is still there to give us advice; with an occasional remark or constructive criticism, he keeps us on our toes."

Writing down orders
To Jeffrey, the collaboration with FleuraMetz feels very natural. “I have seen FleuraMetz grow and our company growing alongside them.” Jeffrey smiles: “At the start, I knew all the orders by heart but soon I needed pen and paper to write them all down!” However, the two surrogate brothers are not overconfident; the company has grown gradually to the 10 acres it is now over a course of 15 years. “We currently have a large share in the celosia market and offer a wide range in this variety. So it is very important to have a partner that supports your product. FleuraMetz is an outstanding partner to have.”

Purple suede carpet
The product which Jeffrey is referring to, is the Celosia Deep Purple. Together with the itch-free Primula Obconica Touch Me and the Cyclamen Super Series, they are the ones bringing on the colour at Ammerlaan-Sosef. As from April, the floor of the nursery looks as if it was covered by a huge purple suede carpet, when the Deep Purple starts flowering. “It absolutely worships the sun and makes a great gift, it is idiot proof!” Gertjan is also very proud of their primula. “The first Touch Me’s were only grown in the east of the Netherlands. We were the ones to bring them down to the west!”

For more information:
FleuraMetz
www.fleurametz.com

Publication date: Tue 17 May 2016