Alliance for sustainable bulb and perennial growing changes its name

HILLEGOM, Netherlands: To accurately reflect its expanding mission and build brand awareness through a new logo, Sustainable Suppliers of Horticultural Quality Products will be the official name of the Platform Sustainable Trade Flowers Bulbs and Perennials effective 1 January 2021.

In terms of legal entity, the participants in the Sustainable Suppliers of Horticultural Quality Products initiative have opted for Stichting* (foundation) which will allow them to bolster their market presence through a new logo (pictured below).

The new logo of Sustainable Suppliers of Horticultural Quality Products will help to build brand awareness.

The ambitious grower alliance wants to develop and improve, with quality standards as vital part of their work. All efforts are geared towards meeting the requirements set by retailers and society.

For several years now, certification body BQ Support uses ‘mystery shoppers’ to help bulb growers identify gaps in product quality in spring and summer flowering bulbs. In its new business structure, the foundation will continue these independent assessments. The focus is on flowering and checking whether the variety is true to type. The mystery shopper results will help participants in the scheme further improve the quality of their products.

The participating trading companies have set themselves the goal of being certified according to MPS-Florimark Good Trade Practice (MPS-GTP) or a minimum comparable certificate. As far as products grown in the Netherlands are concerned, the ambition is to only trade certified products by 2024.

One of the spearheads of the Sustainable Suppliers is therefore to raise awareness among producers that certification has become a must. The group currently comprises 21 participants who supply flower bulbs, perennials, bulb flowers and potted bulbs. The affiliation with MPS, GLOBALG.A.P. and On the way to PlanetProof in these subsectors is still increasing.

For more information visit www.sustainablesuppliers.nl.

• The Dutch ‘Stiching’ is a unique legal entity, and can be considered the ‘civil law’-equivalent of the Anglosakson ‘trust’. Whereas the ‘trust’ is not a legal entity, but rather a ‘trust deed’, the Foundation is a (self-owning) corporate entity, without any share capital or shareholders. Its self-owning character makes it an ideal vehicle to start an NGO (or non-profit organisation), but also to use it as a holding company