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Jan Roelofs pictured with lilies in front of one of the company’s distinctive flower trucks — a familiar sight at Dutch auctions and across southern Germany. Photo courtesy of Steve Holmes.
The global floral wholesale community said goodbye to a truly inspirational figure on 15 February, when BGI Honorary President, Jan Roelofs, passed away in Pfaffenhofen-Walkersbach, Germany. He was 77. Roelofs served as BGI’s President from 2008 to 2016 and was largely credited with defining and modernising BGI’s image in the floral industry. He was also known for his unconventional approach to competition, treating the Dutch and Germans in the floral trade as industry peers rather than enemies. The grief of his passing is shared by his family, the BGI board, and industry friends.
Jan Roelofs, affectionately nicknamed ‘the Bavarian Dutchman’ and ‘Bridge Builder’, died at his home in Pfaffenhofen-Walkersbach after a long illness. He was surrounded by his loving family.
The Verband des Deutschen Blumen- Groß- und Importhandels e.V., also known as the BGI, made this announcement in a statement on Monday, 16 February.
BGI’s managing director, Andrea Kirchhoff, says, “Under his leadership as president, BGI modernised and globalised. The organisation clarified its vision and mission statements and became a well-respected representative of the German wholesale trade at the political and professional levels. Jan possessed important leadership competencies coupled with a remarkable talent for connecting people, ideas, and communities. We are grateful for the legacy he leaves behind, and together with family and friends, BGI mourns the loss of a special person.”
Roelofs served as BGI board member and deputy chairman and as BGI’s president from 2008 to 2016.
At the BGI’s Annual General Meeting in 2019, he was awarded the position of Honorary President by the BGI membership. With the award, BGI paid tribute to Roelofs’ extraordinary dedication to the industry.
Born 14 March 1948 in Den Helder, the Netherlands, Roelofs began his career as a so-called ‘Flying Dutchman’, a man with a van who purchased flowers at the auction early in the morning and delivered them to florists and wholesalers the same day.
Jan Roelofs, in his early career as a mechanic, long before becoming a leading figure in the European floral wholesale trade. Photo courtesy of Steve Holmes.
His son Robert recalls in fluent Dutch, “Working for the Beverwijk-based company Tromp – a company that no longer exists – my father started delivering flowers and plants to Germany in 1969, first serving clients in Aachen and other cities near the Dutch-German border. Gradually, he started driving more southwards towards cities such as Nuremberg. One day, industry peers told him about Munich, a city where, they said, his Irises could easily yield 20 per cent more than in Northern Germany. So, that’s how he slowly set up a client base in the Munich area, travelling back and forth. On his way back to the Netherlands, he frequently stopped for dinner in Walkersbach. On one occasion, he learned that a farm and some land were for rent in the same village. The rest is history. My parents first rented that property and acquired it in 1972, establishing themselves as Roelofs Blumengrosshandel, a company that has never relocated to this day. Those were the days when orders were placed by dialling a rotary phone in the local pub, the only place in the village that had a landline. A few decades later, we were also among the first companies to have a fax machine.”
Robert’s mum, Wilhelmina Roelofs-Mooiman (originally born in the Dutch bulb village Anna Paulowna), adds that she and her husband started with little to nothing. “Jan and I decided to move to Bavaria to gain a little more experience in the German flower industry. We opened with only €250, plunging it all into the business. The decision ultimately paid off. We extended our client base, built an extensive network across Germany and other European countries and grew into the full-service floral wholesale company we are today. Our son Robert and his wife Beate – a master florist – run the company, supported by a team of 30 employees. Meanwhile, our daughter Heidi has her own claim to fame, being the owner of the flower shop ‘Blumenhaus Wilco’ in Pfaffenhoffen for more than 40 years.”
Roelofs Blumengrosshandel grew by leaps and bounds and, in the 1990s and 2000s, saw more clearly defined roles and responsibilities within the management team. Robert Roelofs says, “While my father did an excellent job as board member and president of the BGI, I concentrated on the purchasing process of florals. In 2013, I took over the reins of the company.”
Jan Roelofs with his wife, Wilhelmina, who supported him throughout their decades building Roelofs Blumengrosshandel in Bavaria. Photo courtesy of Steve Holmes.
Roelofs was particularly keen to act against the prevailing idea from the 1970s and 1980s, which held that Dutch-German relations are built solely on competition and rivalry, a concept he believed was harmful to both sides.
Roelofs also made his mark on horticultural history by becoming the first non-German member to join the BGI in March 1995, and soon afterwards, he volunteered to serve on the association’s committees.
In 2010, Roelofs became a board member of the Union Fleurs, the International Flower Trade Association, where he served as chairman of the EU section. Two years later, he also joined the MPS’s supervisory board, where he advocated for corporate responsibility in sustainability and environmental matters in the ornamentals sector.
In 2014, Roelofs received royal recognition for his tireless work in promoting Dutch-German cooperation. By appointment of his majesty the King of the Netherlands, he became a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Ruud Knorr, a former CEO of flower auction Veiling Rhein-Maas in Herongen, is saddened by the passing of Jan Roelofs, someone whom he describes as an ‘amiable person.’
“Jan was a very polite man, capable of seeing the bigger picture while not overlooking the individual interests. He was also a seasoned floral wholesaler, well-versed in the German flower and plant sector. In 2010, the year in which Veiling Rhein-Maas appointed me as their new CEO, Jan was President of the BGI. Occasionally, he participated in the auction’s sound board meetings, providing valuable insights and perspectives.”
Knorr says Roelofs truly helped define BGI’s image in the floral industry at home and abroad. “He was the long-time face of BGI and held a position of authority in Germany. We often grabbed a coffee together, discussing the overall state of the German floral trade, sector-critical issues, and exploring the ways Germany could learn from the Netherlands.”
As BGI representative within Union Fleurs, he was highly respected by those around him. Knorr remembers, “People genuinely valued and sought out his perspective. He defended the interests of ‘his’ members while helping them to drive growth by starting constructive conversations about industry-relevant topics and the sector’s future outlook. Whenever you spoke to him, he demonstrated his passion for the industry. As such, it was no coincidence that you could regularly spot him in the auction room of Veiling Rhein-Maas.”
Knorr has particularly fond memories of a business trip that he helped organise for Veiling Rhein-Maas’ customers. He says, “It included a visit to Jan’s company near Munich, where he took us behind the scenes of Roelofs Blumengrosshandel, an impressive wholesale hub for flowers, houseplants and floral sundries, founded 57 years ago in Walkersbach. Following the company visit, Jan insisted we visit a production of hops plants, a species best known for producing beer. Though Jan was Dutch by birth, he was a proud citizen of the Walkersbach district and clearly felt at home in Bavaria.”
For someone who was often seen wearing Bavaria’s traditional Tracht cardigan, ‘the Dutch Bavarian’ proved an appropriate moniker.
Jan leaves behind his wife, Wilhelmina; his son Robert and his wife, Beate; his daughter, Heidi, and her husband, Richard; and five grandchildren.
Jan Roelofs, in his official capacity as Honorary President of the BGI, the German Association of Flower Wholesalers and Importers.Photo courtesy of Steve Holmes.
Jan was laid to rest on the snowy day of 19 February at a public funeral in Pfaffenhofen, Germany. Mourners left an impressive sea of flowers.
More than 500 mourners, including family, friends, florists, garden retailers, growers and wholesalers from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and many other countries, gathered in the inner court of the Roelofs Blumen company.
Subsequently, the funeral procession walked to St. Martin’s Church and cemetery in Walkersbach. Jan’s last journey was perfect for a passionate flower professional and man of the road. Not for him a black hearse, Jan’s coffin was instead on the back of one of the company’s iconic flower trucks, bedecked with flowers. His family did him proud.
