There
is plenty of potential in the Latin American market,
according to Broere. “That potential needs to
be turned into definite orders, good, reliable
quality and innovation. SBW do Brasil is not only
a production company, but increasingly a fully
fledged tissue culture laboratory. It has its
own Marketing & Sales and Planning departments;
a research department for protocol development
for new crops, up-scaling of the TIB (ebb and
flood) system and research into Somatic embryogenesis
for Coffee and Pine. All of that demands more
guidance and leadership than there is at the moment.
Also weaning off of crops that come out of tissue
culture is an important area for attention. In
short, there is a lot of work to be done. The
Latin American market has potential, therefore
we are wise to make that investment now.”
Strengths
‘Focus'
is the word that Van Leeuwen and Broere use. Focus
on the strengths at each facility. The Netherlands
houses the expertise, in Ghana bulk production
is carried out, and in Macedonia more complex
production takes place. Besides development of
the local market the emphasis for Brazil the emphasis
lies in innovation and exchange of expertise with
The Netherlands.
Van
Leeuwen: “As far as The Netherlands is concerned,
we concentrate on innovation in production and
technology. That gives our customers added value,
such as the TIB-system en Somatic embryogenesis
prove. Cost reduction and production increasing
technologies. In the past we developed the Naktuinbouw-Elite®
system for ornamental plants with the Naktuinbouw,
to produce the healthiest possible plants.”
“SBW
keeps the bar raised high,” adds Broere. “And
that includes the high quality standards for plants
that reach the market. The source material must
be virus free. A definite must these days! Also,
at the end of last year we carried out a customer
satisfaction survey; the results showed that we
are respected for our reliability, good quality,
good logistics and good communication. We want
to continue paying attention to those areas that
our customers value.”
Order
portfolio
In
conclusion a question about the current market
situation. Has SBW felt any of the effects of
the current economic crisis? “The order portfolio
is still well filled, and almost no orders have
been lost,” Van Leeuwen assures. Enthusiastically
he continues: “In fact, after a visit to our Ghanaian
lab a customer recently placed an additional order!”
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