"FloraHolland is providing added value for its members by organising the chain for them and with them, as well as for buyers," explains Bouma. "When growers have to do so themselves, this leads to suboptimal results and higher costs."
Q7 Air Cargo Brokers' operation is overseen from Nairobi by Andy Pattenden, the partner in this enterprise, and commercial manager Dennis Macc Nyamweya of the local offices.
Q7 Air Cargo Brokers intends to increase the efficiency of the complex logistic processes of Kenyan growers through:
- Buying and selling air cargo capacity with airline companies.
- Organising the logistic distribution process at Nairobi airport.
- The inspection and organisation of shipments for the auction clock and for direct sales, respectively.
- The improvement of the refrigerated chain and the exchange of information on logistic processes.
The importance of logistics
God logistics are essential for growers in Kenya. Bouma: "The competitiveness of international growers is greatly affected by the quality, expenses and priorities of their logistic chains." By helping to keep expenses low, FloraHolland builds its bond with members. Another issue is the monitoring of product quality throughout the chain. But even more important is the matter of consolidation, of processing products in such a manner that they can be delivered directly at the customer level. All members' transactions run though FloraHolland's administrative system. Using this information, we can provide them with a highly useful logistic service, ensuring that shipments are not loaded on to airplanes in bulk but sorted by purpose, be it the auction clock, direct sales, or even by customer. By sorting the bulk of the supply as early as Nairobi, we facilitate matters for growers to maximum extent. This give them greater spending power, making it easier for them to develop commercial activities in their area. That's how reliable delivery is assured, anywhere in the world. All this moreover strengthens the position of the international trading platform of FloraHolland in the field of international direct trade flows.FloraHolland's great strength is that we can organise such processes collectively. On top of that, we are able to link our logistics systems to our financial, commercial and IT systems. In the end, that's something everyone benefits from. It is a positive development for Dutch members too - the FloraHolland trading platform becomes stronger as a broader assortment becomes available at the right moment to a growing number of buyers. That's why we are doing this."