Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sandra van der Knaap; I am 24 and live in Westland, which is the center of greenhouse horticulture in the Netherlands. Westland is about 37 miles south of Amsterdam. This area is one of Holland’s most important suppliers of cut flowers and pot plants and this is something that gives me great pride.
Family firm
I studied communications but my new job in floriculture marketing has brought me close to my roots. My grandfather had a nursery and my father and his brothers took over the business from him. During my college days I could often be found at the nursery helping to get the products ready for delivery. Later I also started helping with some marketing activities. In summary, I guess you can say that I am the daughter of a gardener deep down. Due to the fact that my family always concentrated on growing pot plants (Anthurium, Curcuma, Kalanchoe, Phalaenopsis and Spathiphyllum) I am a little less savvy as it relates to cut flowers. Because of my new job I have been visiting florists with the goal of improving my knowledge in this area.
Getting acquainted
One of florists allowed me tag along for two days to help get acquainted with everything: from buying flowers at auction to delivering orders and funeral flowers. I learned a great deal about customers and shop layout, prepared flowers for display and was even allowed to create my own bouquet. I even received compliment; although this could have just been a question of courtesy! Flower arranging turns out not to be my thing although I adore flowers and always have them in my home.
Event planners
The activities of our agency are aimed at florists in more than 20 countries. Event planners are a significant target group in the USA. After all, they are always on the look-out for the most exclusive, high quality new products for their floral work, either themselves or via the florists with whom they cooperate. This automatically leads to the Dutch floricultural sector as I know from personal experience. The most beautiful and newest varieties of flowers and plants can all be found in the greenhouses in the region I grew up in.
Link to Europe
What will we be doing on the American market in the next few months? There is not a lot I can say about that right now but we are very busy developing our plans. One item of interest is the similarity to the events market in Europe. In a country like Italy, event flowers (especially for traditional weddings) play a huge role, just as they do in America. For this reason florists who cater to the wedding market are of great interest to us. We have compared the wedding market in Europe and the events market in the USA and will be investigating the possibilities of finding links between these activities.
Creative and innovative
In this context the experience available at the Flower Council with regard to the US events market will be very useful. In the near future we will be seeking tools to help florists upgrade/expand their professional skills with the ultimate goal of increasing the role of flowers in events. Our point of departure in this is that our work must always be surprising, creative and innovative. All very challenging and I am very excited about it.
We will keep you informed about activities in the USA via this website.
Sandra van der Knaap
Specialist Trade Marketer
