Greenhouse material shipping as a niche market

Share Logistics is a freight forwarder, specializing in greenhouses. For years, they have been taking care of all the logistics of a number of leading suppliers. In 2013 they got their first big order from a greenhouse builder. The materials had to be shipped to a greenhouse area on the American West Coast. They were able to cope with the problems they encountered, over which they had no control.

In that period there was a lot of congestion in the ports. Logistical streams ground to a halt. Everything stood still and things just wouldn’t budge. Roland Steenbakker: "No is not an option for us, so we simply weren’t okay with this. Thanks to our own people on the other side of the water, we were able to work around these problems. The deadline had to be made. This we understand. Plants had to be put into the greenhouse on time. This wasn’t not going to happen because the containers weren’t on time. And we did it. The West Coast was locked down, but not for us."

After this first success the glass supplier in China got wind of it and the second order was a fact. The ball then quickly started rolling and now Share Logistics does the global logistics for several greenhouse builders. Martin van Dueren den Hollander: "Many greenhouse builders and suppliers from the Netherlands, among others, find their way to Share. The Share team doesn’t look at time differences or office hours. The work needs to be done. The objective is clear. That’s what it's all about."

In the meantime, greenhouse material shipping has become a recognized niche. It is used by international partners that belong to an approved network. Moreover, Share Logistics has its own offices in Amsterdam, New York, Miami, Le Havre, Hamburg, Bremen, Prague, Barcelona, Valencia, Felixstowe and soon also in Houston and Seattle. For emergency and backorders Share Logistics Airfreight is activated. There are offices that handle these shipments at both Zestienhoven and Schiphol.

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