“2022 was a monumental year for Plant Products because we were able to welcome so many new, enthusiastic, and professional colleagues from legacy Biobest-USA and Canada, as well as legacy Plant Products,” says Chris Stickles, President of Plant Products.
In February 2022, it was announced that Biobest Group and Plant Products signed a partnering agreement through which Biobest would hold a majority stake in Plant Products and the activities of Plant Products Inc., Biobest Canada Inc., and Biobest USA Ltd would be combined into a single entity called Plant Products. One year later, Chris Stickles reflects on what this year has meant for both clients and employees.
During this year of transition for both companies, the key focus was on ensuring a smooth transition for both customers and employees alike, which Chris explains has been an invigorating experience that has brought new clients and objectives into the fold.
“Colleagues from both legacy-Plant Products and Biobest are already working together and, in some cases, with new customers to understand their objectives and production practices and find ways to bring value to their businesses,” says Chris.
Chris Stickles, President of Plant Products, with one of their expanded fleet of delivery vehicles
Dating back to the earliest conversations between Plant Products and the Biobest Group, positive customer impact has been the most important consideration. Fast forward to the present day, and Chris is confident that the customers are experiencing the benefits of the Biobest-Plant Products integration.
“Both organizations were well known for their unbiased technical expertise, and with more colleagues’ experience to draw from, this is only improving,” explains Chris. “Our combined organization is able to offer an expanded portfolio of products and services; the ability to look at integrated pest management with a full toolbox of solutions should help our customers”
More resources for both employees and clients
The acquisition of Plant Products by Biobest has been a very positive experience overall for both companies, thanks to the transfer of knowledge between colleagues as well as the expanded resources available to the company. As Chris explains, the purchase has allowed Plant Products to expand its delivery fleet for improved customer service and faster product delivery. Tapping into the Biobest Group network also means that colleagues from around the world can share their experiences with specific issues and help each other find solutions to the challenges faced by clients in different locations. While the wealth of knowledge can seem difficult to wrangle at first, Chris explains that this is a great problem to have and that the combined teams are working together smoothly.
Digital solutions ahead in 2023
Plant Products will be launching an e-commerce platform in 2023 to further improve the customer experience. Through Biobest, Plant Products will also begin offering multiple high-tech, digital solutions to enhance growers’ IPM knowledge, their monitoring practices as well as their reporting capabilities.
“We believe each of these is going to bring a lot of value to our customer businesses, and our technical sales and IPM specialists will be able to share more about each of these in the coming months,” says Chris.
For more information:
Plant Products
Scott.Hodgins@plantproducts.com
www.plantproducts.com
https://twitter.com/ProductsPlant
Biobest Group NV
info@biobestgroup.com
www.biobestgroup.com