US: Connecting products and knowledge for the horticulture industry
“We would sell anything we could to anyone who would buy from us,” said general manager Chris Higgins. “That is not uncommon for new companies starting out, especially those that are doing wholesale supplies.
“When Hort Americas first started, the partnership we had with horticulture distributor and cooperative Horticoop in the Netherlands allowed us access to a lot of products that the company was already selling in Europe. Initially our focus was European products that were well suited for commercial vegetable hydroponic growers in North America. Most of the products we offered were not available from U.S. manufacturers.”
Even though the North American hydroponic vegetable industry is not as large as the Dutch industry, Higgins said U.S. growers have been interested in European technology.
“We looked to build off of our partnership with Horticoop which enabled us to consolidate orders in Europe on co-loaded containers. The products were shipped to the United States, unloaded in Dallas, and then shipped to our customers. The North American market is sophisticated enough to use the products shipped from Europe. But it does not always mean that the European manufacturers completely understand all of the needs of our customers.”
Higgins said the North American customers differ widely depending on geography, market demand and opportunity.
“These differences create opportunities for both low and high technology production methods and products,” he said. “It became glaringly important that our vendor partnerships needed to allow us to address each customer’s specific needs and level of technical expertise.”
Read more at Hort Americas (David Kuack)