Column FPC chairman: 'If you want support, you have to listen to us'

The management would be foolish not to listen to the FPC chairs. Here you find the people who, as they say, really have their feet in the auction soil. So, if you want support, you have to listen. And if a decision has support, the FPC chairs’ meeting can even act as a catalyst.

The management and Members’ Council see it that way too. As far as I am concerned, the FPC chairs are taken very seriously. That doesn’t mean that everything I or the other chair says is taken verbatim. That's not how it works. But people do listen. And what we say is definitely taken into account. After four years as chair of the FPC Gerbera, I can vouch for that.

Weight in balance

Four times a year, all the chairs come together during the FPC chairs' meeting. I find these to be fascinating meetings. There’s always a full agenda. It includes signals from the field, strategic developments and other cooperative issues. We meet with a group of pleasant, motivated people. We are all entrepreneurs and we all have opinions. We share them in a friendly, constructive way. This makes the discussions constructive. Thus, we can influence matters from the chairmen's meeting. What I like most about being chair is that I get to interact with other chairs, board members and the Members’ Council.

There are topics we are critical of. This includes Floriway, or the early days of Floriday. We then said: entice people to use the platform by making the services so good that they don't want to miss them. Don’t mandate, entice. Look, we can’t prevent something from being implemented. But we can send signals and ensure it fits the members as much as possible. Floriway remains a challenging issue and we will continue to follow it critically.

We have to do it together

What happens after the chairs' meeting? I go home first and let it sink in. Then I start again at the company as usual and think it over. I might call another Members’ Council member to clarify certain issues. At the next meeting of our product group, I discuss the topics with our members. I gather new input for the next chairs' meeting that way. This keeps the lines short and everyone well-informed.

As a chair, you need to look at developments in the cooperative with a helicopter view. Good communication is also useful. Royal FloraHolland is a large company. As a result, developments sometimes progress more slowly than in our own company. But that's part of it. However, I sometimes get annoyed with growers who unnecessarily slow things down. Those who keep saying they can't keep up, for instance, in certification. One day it has to end with that Calimero behaviour. I don't always agree with how things are going in the world either. But sometimes you have to step over your own shadow and look at the bigger picture. Together, we must ensure that our sector continues to participate in the world. Today and tomorrow.