“Multi-facetted changes are on the way”
by specialist editor Heike Hoppe
Mr. Teuber, 22 years is a long time. Were there times when it dragged?
Both my Dutch colleagues at Blumenbüro and the managers at FloraHolland have the vision to re-think the world of the international decorative plant sector and their strategies approximately every five years. That is sometimes demanding but it keeps your thinking fresh and keeps you awake. Five years ago we had the ‘Discussion 2020’ – creative concepts were developed for future perspective of the industry. Today we have reached the point when we can put some of that foresight into practice as concrete strategy.
What are the future topic areas for Blumenbüro?
A so-called ‘growth platform’ was developed for generic communication relating to flowers and plants. It follows certain trends and re-tells the stories that surround them. This is carried out in international campaigns with national interpretation for the Netherlands, Germany, France and England – the key markets for BBH.
The four important topics for flowers and plans are ‘Health and well-being’ – everything concerning individual wellness; ‘Interior’ – everything that improves the appearance of the living environment; ‘Celebrate seasons“ – seasonal anchors and ‘Connecting friends“ – i.e. people’s relationships to one another.
Are market and structural changes more advanced in the Netherlands than in Germany?
Yes, in some areas I think they are. The Dutch decorative plant sector is adapting. The perspectives are oriented towards proactive changes and the development of opportunities and thus it is oriented towards the future in a positive way. I believe that this fundamentally positive, open attitude and readiness to change has always characterised the Dutch action culture.
I think the international flower market is restructuring with national effects. In the same way that we all need to learn that we will be living in a differently structured economy in five or ten years. Whether we want to or not. It is certainly an exciting, challenging development for many of the players on the market.
What is happening in Germany? Are we sleeping through digitalisation?
The rigidity being displayed in parts of the German market is quite remarkable. In our sector a lot of people still talk about digitalisation as if it were a computer that optimises everything a little and that opens and closes the greenhouse.
Look at the many digital initiatives in the sector in the Netherlands or the example of the fantastic Floriworld project.
What a brilliant idea, to position flowers and plants in an adventure centre where they get so much publicity and to build this in Aalsmeer, close to Schiphol Airport, where thousands of travellers can appreciate the horticultural achievement, both in analogue and digital form.
What could German horticulture learn from this, what inspiration can they find for their own sector? Why do we not think like this in order to make the economic significance of horticulture visible here too? We are more than just engineering and the automobile industry?
Mr. Teuber, what is the future like for the world of tomorrow and the day after?
Nobody knows. We are currently experiences huge change processes in many areas of society with this very dynamic world market. We will have to ask ourselves a lot of questions: Which goods will even come to Germany in the future? And subject to what conditions? Where will global production move to? And who will distribute it? Is an exporter even still an exporter? Is a gardener still a gardener or more of an energy supplier? Who is tomorrow’s consumer, and what will he or she buy, and how and why?
More of the same is not the right way to look to the future. We cannot make statements on the future that are primarily derived from the past. We can only try, fail and try again. This will mean developing a constructive culture of failure that teaches us new things! If we fail and learn from our mistakes then we can be successful tomorrow. And we will have to learn that anew – the success of tomorrow!
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