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Access to the market

During our interview, the rain was pelting down; the rainy season has started early in an otherwise dry Kenya. Eunice talks about her start at the family business some eight years ago, a business her father launched in 2009. What started with a farm of St. John's wort on one hectare grew into a farm of more than 22 hectares and four species of summer flowers in different varieties. Eunice: "In 2015, my father decided to become a member of Royal FloraHolland. Membership gave access to a larger market, which greatly eased the stress of finding buyers. Another big advantage for us is the weekly payment from RFH. That helps us maintain a healthy cash flow for our business."

Less stress and worry, more focus on growing

Eunice explains that she and her colleagues are kept well-informed by the cooperative via member sessions. There is also regular contact with the cooperative's local office in Kenya. "If we want to know something about a market, a product group, trend or a specific customer, we can always turn to them."

From Global Sourcing Service (GSS), the Kenya office additionally provides support to shipping Benev Flora products, including to Europe, she adds. "At the airport, employees do quality checks on our behalf. They also make sure the paperwork required for overseas shipping is all in order." Eunice sighs with relief: "This saves us a lot of stress and headaches, allowing us to focus on what we do best: growing our beautiful summer flowers."

Indispensable platform

Asked about the use of Floriday, Eunice has to laugh. For her team, the platform is the most widely used tool. "We have been monitoring performance and sales of products through the platform since 2018 and, since the beginning of last year, we have also been actively using it for direct sales." Floriday provides access to buyers, visibility, and it helps to get more competitive prices, such as through auction presales. "The market information, the ability to compare our numbers with competitors and insights we can use for our research on new products are also very nice." Not too long ago, Benev Flora asked for a customisation in Floriday. This request was quickly honoured. "It's great that there is such good collaboration with growers, which means the platform is becoming more and more in tune with our daily practice."

Together we can achieve more

As Eunice well knows, Kenyan growers like Benev Flora face plenty of challenges. These include high costs and shortage of capacity in air freight, high tax rates at home and abroad, and negative media coverage of Kenyan flowers. "Benev Flora has traditionally been a company committed to community. Our name is not derived from the word 'benevolent' for nothing, says Eunice. The family business is certified by the Kenya Flower Council (KFC) silver standard and Global G.A.P, among others. In terms of sustainability, the company also uses LED lights for the crops that need a lot of light to save energy. They also use plastic mulch to save water and prevent soil erosion. Eunice: "We have also benefitted from our membership of Royal FloraHolland in this regard. Many of the challenges we face now are too big to tackle as an individual grower. To take these on, we prefer to join forces with others through our cooperative. This way we are much stronger when it comes to lobbying governments and other stakeholders. Together we achieve more than we can alone. I am convinced of this."