NL: Daily Fresh Radish celebrates 25-year anniversary

John and Dennis Grootscholten from Daily Fresh Radish enjoy a good party. “And when everyone starts skipping these kinds of events, you’re not doing it right,” John says. That’s why no expense was spared last Friday by the nursery in Naaldwijk, the Netherlands. The 25-year anniversary of the nursery was celebrated in the middle of the greenhouse with food trucks, music and 300 guests and relations.

Daily Fresh Radish was founded in 1992. Before that, John was in paid employment with another radish grower for six years. “After working there for a few weeks I thought to myself, I enjoy this, I’m going to do this as well,” he says. And so it was. From a small nursery that operated manually, Daily Fresh Radish grew into a modern greenhouse horticultural company. On Friday, customers could see this for themselves, because the party was held in the middle of the greenhouse. “We wanted to celebrate the anniversary at our own company,” John says. “Most people have been in the warehouse. We wanted to bring them into the greenhouse. That is what we do, who we are. And it’s not much more than that.” That soberness characterises the company. The decision to not ask for presents for the party also fits into that line. “We don’t need anything, we have everything we need,” they think. That’s why they asked for a donation to Team Westland, which will climb the Tourmalet on 21 June to raise money for cancer. It resulted in more than 6,700 euro for Team Westland. 

Another characteristic of the company is that its run by two brothers. How did that actually happen? Was that never tricky? “In 1995, we bought another company, at our current location. That company was fairly old and consisted of various warehouses that had all been pieced together. You’d never see each other. One of us in a shed somewhere, the other one in the greenhouse, you wouldn’t even see each other,” John says. “But when new buildings were constructed in 2000, we suddenly walked in the same warehouse and in the same greenhouse. That took some getting used to.” They decided to find some support to make sure things went well, and they subsequently made a division of labour. “If you’re both doing the same things in your own way, it won’t go well. I now do one part, and Dennis does another part. You have to trust each other and yourself, and you have to remember that you need each other and you’re in it together. That the other has the exact same motivation as you. Then you can complete each other, strengthen each other. That’s how we are now working. I couldn’t do without him for one day.”

“You have so much more work now compared to 25 years ago,” he continues. “In that sense it has become much more complicated. The registration, the automation and the regulations. And selling the packaging, of course. We get sudden orders – one person wants five packages, another wants 25 pallets, and everything preferably shipped yesterday. We don’t have a magic wand, but sometimes it would be convenient. Packaging is constantly being made in the warehouse. Twenty years ago, we also made partial orders for the auction, but now it’s more different types of packaging.” About 40, he estimates. “Red and white radish, white pointed and icicle. We get phone calls at nine in the morning that a lorry will be by at half past nine to load 164 packages and five packs. That can be quite hectic, but that’s the sport.”

In recent years, that vision resulted in an average growth of five per cent per year. And, although it might sound strange, growing even more isn’t a goal for the brothers. “Our goal is to stick to what we have – but mostly it’s keeping customers satisfied. You can grow and grow, but if it leads to unhappy customers, you’re doing it wrong. That is the most important thing for us.”