The women of Florensis

Wanda de Waard, Transport Planner Production Logistics

Tell us who you are
My name is Wanda, I am 35 years old and I'm living in Ridderkerk, The Netherlands. In my spare time I can usually be found with my horse Woody, who I have had for 6 years now.

How did your career at Florensis start?
I was ready for a new challenge. When I came across this vacancy, I did not hesitate for one second. Even better was the fact that I was told on my birthday that I had been offered the job! I have now been working for Florensis for 4 and a half years as Transport Planner.

What exactly does your job entail?
In short, I am responsible for the shipment of our trays within and outside Europe. Including the preparation of transport documents and certificates. Together with my colleagues from the transport department, I make sure that the unrooted cuttings that come in from our production locations abroad are sent to our customers by various couriers. In addition, we ensure that the empty trays from the delivered rooted cuttings are returned to our location. During my work, I have close contact with our customer service and distribution department.

And what do you like the most about your job?
The versatility! No day is the same. I have a lot of contact with different departments and I solve problems. I work with tight deadlines, but it gives me great satisfaction when everything is finished.

What are the nicest things you have experienced during your work?
The Fancy Fair. During this event, where money is raised for good causes by selling our products, there is a lot of solidarity. All the enthusiastic volunteers also give their all. Hopefully we can organise this again in the future!

Working at Florensis means to you...
I am quite proud to work for a large and innovative company that is at the forefront of many new developments and is also fully committed to social causes. I was also sponsored by Florensis when I participated in the spinning marathon for the Sophia Children's Hospital.

Tessa Nanninga, Manager Supply Chain Cuttings

Tell us who you are
I'm Tessa Nanninga (40) and I have worked for already 20 years at Florensis with great pleasure.

How did your career at Florensis start?
I joined Florensis when I was 19 years old as a temporary employee in production, after I dropped out of school. I have held various positions over the years including Customer Service employee, Supply Chain planner, Production manager in Kenya and in the last 2,5 years as Manager Supply Chain Cuttings. In addition, I also studied in the evenings where I successfully completed my bachelor's and master business administration.

What exactly does your job entail?
Together with my team I'm responsible for an efficient, effective and customer-oriented supply chain for cuttings and Tissue Culture from supplier to customer. Whit this, proactive continuous improvement of delivery reliability, quality and optimization of costs are important.

Working at Florensis means to you...
There is never a dull moment at Florensis. Because of the continuous challenges and opportunities are the main reasons why I'm still around. I grew up at Florensis, I made friends for life. Florensis is in my DNA.

Caroline Benningen, Facilities Employee

Tell us who you are
My name is Caroline and I am 27 years old. I have been working for Florensis Cut Flowers for 2 years now.

How did your career at Florensis start?
I worked in a theatre as a lighting technician, but I was ready for a new adventure. I was looking for fixed working hours and did not want to work weekends or evenings anymore. I was looking for something with good working conditions and more chance of a permanent contract.

After looking around a bit, I came across Florensis and it appealed to me immediately. I then applied for the position of Facilities Employee with which you would also take over technical work from the technical department.

What does your job entail?
Working as a Facilities Employee at the Technical Support department of Florensis Cut Flowers means that I am responsible for the maintenance and furnishing of the building and grounds. I also take all orders for the canteen and the office. In addition, together with my colleague I am responsible for the maintenance and optimisation of the installations and machinery.

And what do you like the most about your job?
That it is so varied. No day is the same and I do so many different things in one day. First, I clean the coffee machines and then I get up on the cherry picker to hang lamps.

What are the best things you experience in your work?
The appreciation I receive from my colleagues when I have helped someone with a malfunction or when something has to be organised or arranged.

And of course, the 80th anniversary party at our new location in Dinteloord (NL)! I found that very nice and special to experience.

Working at Florensis means to you...
Going to work every day with great pleasure. A place where you can learn and grow a lot.

Marianne Monden-Groeneweg, Specialist Master Data Management

Tell us who you are
My name is Marianne Monden-Groeneweg, I am almost 65 years old and have been working for Florensis for 24 years. I hope to celebrate my 25th anniversary here next year!

How did your career at Florensis start?
Like many of my colleagues, I started as a temporary worker to assist in our high season. When I saw an internal vacancy in which they asked for an employee for Human Resource Management, I immediately applied and a permanent contract was a fact!

I didn't do this for very long, because an even nicer position as Secretary Sales became available. I have been doing this job with a lot of pleasure for about 10 years. I especially enjoyed the contact with customers, Sales Representatives and the internal Sales organisation.

Because data became more important, and still is, there was a need within Florensis to set up a special department for Master Data Management. The management of all the company's data for articles, customers and prices etc. had to be centralised in this new department. I was asked to design this together with a colleague. The experience I had gained on the sales side, came in very handy in this new challenge, of course.

What do you like the most about your job?
I have always found data management fun and interesting. Also in my private life I am very much involved with data. My biggest hobby is genealogy research. My own website attracts many visitors. This hobby also requires a lot of precision, which is something I definitely need in my current job!

I have been doing Master Data Management for 13 years now, with a lot of pleasure and passion. I have a lot of contact with colleagues and I enjoy ensuring that the data is entered as correctly as possible into all the systems; I go for 100%!

Florensis has changed and grown a lot in recent years, whereby the importance of consistent and error-free data has become increasingly important. The most challenging part is to grow with the new programmes and software needed to keep the master data manageable. This is working out just fine, by the way!

Working at Florensis means to you...
Florensis is a very nice employer and takes good care of its employees. It is a family business, but to me it really feels like a family. I enjoy going to work every day and I hope to continue doing so until I retire!

Pascalle Verwaters, Multimedia Designer

Tell us who you are
My Name is Pascalle Verwaters, I’m 24 years old and I live in Breda (NL).

How long have you worked for Florensis?
I recently started working as a Multimedia Designer at the Marketing department of Florensis in October 2021. For 5 months now, so not that long.

What does your job entail?
At the moment I am busy with the new catalogue. In addition, I am concerned with the making of videos and I am designing the Email newsletters, social media posts, logos and so on. Together with my team I develop new concepts, campaigns, and other marketing-related expressions for our products. In short: I deal with all kinds of visual expressions for Florensis.

What do you like the most about your job?
First of all, I like my job because it is very versatile. I am busy with different things, so I never get bored. Secondly, I am very free to try things out if I see something new. In my private life, I am always trying out new things as well. That gives me great satisfaction. It creates challenges that keep my work at Florensis exciting.

What are the best things you have experienced in your work so far?
I have not worked here for so long but so far, I like the way colleagues treat each other. Everyone always wants to help each other. We can laugh, but we can also turn to each other when things are not going so well. It is a wonderful team spirit.

Working at Florensis means for you …
Working for a great and innovative company where you can develop yourself in an effective way!

Tessa Helderman, Head of E-commerce

Tell us who you are
My name is Tessa Helderman and I am 29 years old. My career at Florensis started on my first working day of 2021 with a nice cup of coffee and an extensive presentation about Florensis.

What does your job entail?
As Head of E-commerce, I am responsible for the growth of our online sales and the further development of our webshop that supports this. With this, we want to make life as easy as possible for our customers, because the webshop offers them many advantages.

And what do you like the most about your job?
The dynamics of the sector are reflected in the online wishes and behaviour of our customers. For me and my team, it is a great challenge to translate these wishes into the best online user experience, making smart use of data and technology.

What is the best thing you have experienced so far with Florensis?
The warmth of the organisation. From day one, you are included in the organisation and everyone is willing to help you move forward together. For me, working at Florensis means in one word: enthusiasm!