An average working day at Kwekerij de Zuidplas
24 Apr The nice thing about the average working day at Kwekerij de Zuidplas is that no two are ever the same. One thing is certain though: the day starts early. Entrepreneur and owner Juriaan starts the day with the planner, mapping out and preparing the work for the day. And then, of course, there are always unexpected things that arise during the day.
Making choices
At Kwekerij de Zuidplas, the day begins at 5.30 am. Owner Juriaan and the planner go through the day and make decisions: what are we doing in the greenhouse today? And how can we then organise the transport as efficiently as possible? How many people do we need today? The answers to these questions are based on the number of orders. And that's different every day.
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Growing, harvesting, packing and transporting gerberas
After the day has begun, it is time to harvest, sort and pack the gerberas. They are made ready for transport and this is co-ordinated between the two locations of Kwekerij de Zuidplas. Quite a job, because it then becomes apparent whether the planning as it was at the beginning of the day is still correct. It is always a great relief when the planning is complete and finalised. Sometimes as many as 70,000 flowers go out of the door in a single day. And more orders can come in during the day, each of which has to be tailored to the specific wishes of the customer.
Cultivating a beautiful gerbera
Gerberas need to be picked in just the right way. ‘Carefully, that is, the plant must remain intact, even under time pressure. The quality of the gerbera is the responsibility of the grower, the crop protection foreman and the harvester. Each activity has an influence on the final quality,’ Juriaan explains. And that's what they go for at Kwekerij de Zuidplas: a high-quality gerbera.
‘The nice thing about working at a nursery is that it is dynamic and diverse: I never know how my day will turn out.’
Dynamic and diverse
Juriaan loves new challenges and is mainly involved in the organisation at Kwekerij de Zuidplas. ‘If we purchase a new machine, I want to see and experience for myself how it works. I think of ways in which to use the machine, try them out and then hand over the work. The nice thing about my work is that it is dynamic and diverse: I never know how my day will turn out.’
