Delivering quality coir to Britain’s fruit, vegetable and nursery growers is at the heart of Botanicoir’s business. In a short 10 years, this UK based company has developed a top class reputation for supplying reliable and consistent products that continue to grow in popularity across the industry.
According to Kalum, the worldwide success of the business is down to maintaining strong relationships with growers, as well as sustaining a high standard of product. “The company has largely grown through word of mouth which is always our most reliable form of marketing.
“We try to mark ourselves apart from other coir suppliers, in terms of product quality, expertise and customer support and each year we take growers over to Sri Lanka to see the operation for themselves. Transparency in the way work is very important to us," he says.
The production process requires understanding as well as attention to detail, something the Sri Lankan team are highly skilled in.
"We strive to make the best product possible, we have regular training sessions and seminars for our employees in Sri Lanka enabling them to consistently make the best product. They are very proud of what they do and this in turn promotes staff retention, which is key to maintaining our quality standards.
"We work closely with all of our customers, their feedback is vital to us and the way we grow as a company. We always listen to their views to improve the product we supply,” says Kalum.
“For instance, we used to supply coir in bulk (bales), and our growers told us they would find bags more useful so in 2006 we starting supplying the grow bags. After years of research and development, in 2012 we launched our Precision Plus brand, which has seen huge success with strawberry growers across the industry,” he says.
Supplying growers with coir substrate from Sri Lanka is no easy task. And 2015 has been no exception, with the company and its employees struggling against unprecedented heavy rains lasting for almost a year.
“The monsoon started on the 10th August 2014 and it’s still raining. The weather, without a doubt, is our biggest challenge as our coir is dried naturally before it is compressed and transported.
“Our main priority is our growers, and we are always completely upfront with them about issues such as these. And, in response to changing weather patterns, we’re investing in new technology, to ensure that in the future we can be proactive and avoid these issues that the weather brings.”
The business is celebrating its 10 year anniversary this July, and is still growing. In 2005 the company started out selling bales of coir, one container load was shipped from Sri Lanka. Today they supply 450 containers of coir worldwide, to 46 countries, including Spain, Norway, Turkey, Morocco, Germany, the Netherlands and the US.
Kalum is clear that Botanicoir have a clear global distribution strategy. "We are very particular about who we work with when it comes to distributing our products. Our global partners play a key role promoting Botanicoir products across the world. The quality of our products coupled with their hard work and their credibility has brought Botanicoir to where it is today."
“Supplying grow bags was a fundamental change for the company, and the value added bags such as Precision Plus have helped to grow our supply of coir to global markets. Our progression can largely be attributed to word of mouth. In this industry, reputations are important, and we strive to maintain Botanicoir’s highly thought of status in the market."
“Our growers tell us that we are the preferred coir product in the market, and we strive to defend this position going forward,” adds Kalum.
For more information, visit www.botanicoir.com