CSR
We aim for a sustainable and healthy future!
Flowers and plants are more than 'beautiful'.
Many studies indicate that people surrounded by green are happier and healthier. Flowers and plants are a symbol to celebrate, to show support or to set the mood inside and outside. They have even more benefits, they help to recover from stress and provide fresh air! Especially at this time when working from home is common, it is important to bring a lot of flowers and plants into your home. But why? Green in and around workplaces has a positive effect on health and work experience. It also has a positive effect on your concentration, stress reduction and higher productivity. But how does that happen?
• Plants and flowers purify the air and reduce CO2 concentrations: fresher and healthier.
• Plants and flowers evaporate water and therefore make the air less dry: less headaches and a better concentration!
• A view on flowers (especially a beautiful bouquet) and plants has a calming effect, result: less stress!
• Flowers and plants provide a good balance of energy, encourage creativity and provide an appropriate atmosphere for every season.
That is why we think it's important that everyone is surrounded by flowers and plants. We deliver these products to florists with all our love. We dwant them to make people happy every day with beautiful bouquets and / or great plants!
We do this in the most sustainable way possible. We are happy to explain this to you in the form of Sustainable Development Goals.
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG8: Decent work and economic growth
We think it is important that everyone in this society can put his or her talent into a nice job. That is why we like to be open to people who have difficulties finding a job. Every level of education is welcome with us. In collaboration with “social partners” and townships, we try to offer people a nice place within our company where they can get started! Together we ensure that everyone is happy and healthy. For example, we ensure that fruit is always available here and a tasty and healthy lunch is ready for all employees in the afternoon.
SDG12: Responsible consumption and production
Establishment and environment
Since 2019 we have built a new building in Honselersdijk. During the development we have taken into mind various aspects to make optimal use of the environment.
The new building has 3 layers, the first 2 layers are used for production and the top one serves as an office. We were able to connect these layers, so we did not have to expand in terms of land, but we went into the air.To ensure that the building is energy efficient and can last a long time, we opted for a concrete construction and solar panels on the roof. Our cooling installation also saves energy by using natural refrigerants (CO2 and NH3).
Transport
In addition to reducing CO₂ emissions through technology, we also deal with two important concepts: distance and time. To keep the florist satisfied with short delivery times, it is very important to avoid unnecessary kilometers and traffic jams. This has the advantage that the trucks do not drive or stand still unnecessarily.
That is why we have a balanced delivery system, which enables us to deliver efficiently. How? Our customers are concentrated in geographic areas and are only supplied at night. This way, traffic jams are avoided as much as possible. In short: the driver does not have to wait unnecessarily, the engines of the trucks run less and the florist does not have to wait unnecessarily… and we? We save time!
In order to save water and to be able to store more volume in the trucks, we deliver "dry". By dry delivery we mean; deliver without water. Dry delivery saves 3/5 volume and is much lighter because we don’t transport water.
We use so-called “pool crates”. These are large plastic crates that are reused over and over again. They are delivered to the florist and taken back. This was already a good system and has been improved by the second generation. A new crate was developed and realized in 2016, with the following advantages: the crate is 1.5 kilos lighter, makes no noise and a truck can accommodate 9% more volume! In this way, even less transport is needed to supply florists. But what happened to the old one…? These are now used by florists and fellow companies for transport or storage purposes.
Products supplied from the nurseries are often delivered in groups via the ‘auction’ building, which saves many kilometers and (half) empty trucks. These products are supplied in so-called “barrels”, which, like the pool crates, are always reused.
Waste & returns
Many flowers and plants need packaging material to prevent damage to vase life and / or damage to the product. The packaging is diverse, plastics (foil and trays) have the largest share.
The grower packs the products, which are taken to the florist. The florist collects all packaging materials in the pool crate and makes it ready to be taken back to Holland. We separate these materials and deliver them to our recycling processor. Where possible, new foils and paper products are made of this, such as new plant trays. With this we close the chain of recycling packaging material.
SDG17: Partnership to achieve goals
Sustainability also means looking for collaborations with others. We are a family business, where long-term relationships are more important than short-term profit. Sustainable and long-term relationships provide the opportunity for innovation, which leads to efficiency within our company. Collaborating with employees, florists, suppliers and other organizations all contributes to this.
Employees
As explained in SDG8: Decent work and economic growth, we see great value in our employees. We would like our employees to be active in our company for a longer period of time. That is why we want to create a pleasant working environment where every employee can set goals for his or her career. In this way we try to listen to everyone and keep looking for new possibilities to keep challenging the employees, or not, when this is not desired. This way we hope to be assured of good and satisfied employees for a longer period of time and that they are assured of a nice good job!
Florists
Florists in different regions of Germany, they are our customers. Many of these relationships go back to the foundation of our company and we have acquired another large part as a relationship over the years. We therefore aspire for long-term relationships. Due to a high concentration of florists in certain regions, we are able to serve the florist in time with minimal transport movements, which is a precondition for us for lasting relations.
Suppliers
A big part of our suppliers are growers. These are people who work daily to grow the most beautiful flowers and plants. We aspire to maintain and build long-term relationships. So that expectations match purchase and we can always look for a way to achieve minimal waste and optimal logistics.
Other organizations
Our motto is "Unsere Service ist Ihr Gewinn". In doing so, we believe that service to the other is the basis for "profit". Creating value starts with having an eye for what the other needs. The aim of our company is to optimally serve the florist. We do not only serve the other person optimally, but also socially. We are at the heart of society and are therefore not only a witness, but also involved in areas that affect the individual. Think of loneliness, poverty, slavery, famine and injustice. That is why we are also involved in organizations in our society whose primary objective is to help individuals in need. We want to get attention to these three organizations;
We as a company are busy with optimizing the logistics of flowers and plants, but “Maf” knows how to make inaccessible areas accessible. These logistics saves lives! Read more about this collaboration here.
Slavery, this injustice is greater than ever. It’s horrible that there are so many people who are oppressed and humiliated. That's why we're grateful that IJM is committed to bringing justice. Read more about this collaboration here.
Ever since it was founded, we have known that good work is being done in probably the poorest country in the world, where Heart for Haiti can provide a home for children in need.