For Intraplant, the Westland-based green company run by Erwin Broeckx and Patricia van der Knaap, the Christmas season has once again almost come to an end. Between 8 November and 13 December, the team installed more than 200 Christmas trees across the Netherlands and Belgium. "It went really well this year, helped enormously by the weather. We didn't have a single drop of rain, which makes the work a lot more enjoyable," Erwin says with a smile.
As every year, Intraplant's focus shifts completely to Christmas in November. While the company normally specialises in terrace planting and interior greenery, the final months of the year are all about large-scale trees. "For more than five weeks, we worked seven days a week," Erwin explains. "It's hard work, but once it's done, it's really done. I'd happily sign up to do it the same way again next year."
© Intraplant
More large sizes
This season, including smaller specimens, around 170 trees were installed, slightly more than last year. What stood out was the higher demand for large sizes. "We supplied more trees of eight, ten and even twelve metres tall," says Erwin. "The smaller sizes, around four to five metres, were a bit less in demand." The tallest tree this year reached an impressive height of 14 metres.
Lighting was certainly not in short supply either. "We added an extra kilometre of lights," Erwin laughs. "It sounds like a huge amount, but in practice it adds up quickly when you're working with this number of trees and these kinds of dimensions."
© IntraplantFrom Groningen to Belgium
The work area was once again wide-ranging. In the Netherlands, trees were installed from Groningen all the way down to Arnhem, with a large number of projects in Amsterdam. In Belgium, the team travelled deep into the country as well, with locations including Ostend, Mol and Antwerp. "Christmas is always a bit like the Wild West," Erwin laughs. "You end up driving across the Netherlands three times over, and then adding a good stretch of Belgium on top of that."
Planning
Preparations for the Christmas season start early. "In July and August, the first requests already come in," Erwin explains. "We draw up an initial schedule and take customers' preferred dates into account. As the season gets closer, that planning gradually fills up."
Dismantling also begins fairly quickly. "This Friday, we'll remove the first trees, for example, at schools where the Christmas holidays are starting," says Erwin. "In some cities, the trees are already gone before New Year's Eve. The rest follow in January."
© Intraplant
Good availability
For smaller consumer Christmas trees, Scandinavia and Northern Europe are key sourcing regions, but this year, there were some challenges there. "In Scandinavia, many fields where trees grow up to around 2.5 metres were destroyed," Erwin explains. "In our segment, the larger trees, availability was fortunately good. You could clearly see that the trees had a strong spring; they were well-shaped and nicely full."
Looking back, Erwin is very satisfied with the season. "We worked comfortably and everything ran smoothly. So far, Christmas continues to grow every year, and we're definitely noticing that on our side too."
For more information:
Intraplant
06 - 41 22 65 53
[email protected]
www.intraplant.nl
