As of March 1, John Hendriks has joined the African Roots sales team. Business is going well, the company is growing in products and customers, and to be able to cope with it all, an extra man is more than welcome. In addition, Hans Bentvelsen, who is now 70 and still very active, is slowly taking a step back.
From left to right: Hans Bentvelsen, Rien van Hemert, and John Hendriks
John comes over from Plantise, having sold young plants for years and having been a gardener himself in the past. It will take some time to switch from tomato and cucumber plants to an assortment consisting of many hundreds of exclusive ornamental plants, but as the men at the table know (John, Hans, and Rien), it is especially important to speak the language of the gardener. Besides, “a tray of plants is not a box of nails,” and “a gardener usually doesn’t have to look at a plant long to know whether it is having a good time.”
The wide range is African Roots’ great strength. To show customers and potential customers what they have on offer, the company opened a show greenhouse in De Lier last year. Here, about 80% of the assortment can be admired, or still some 400 varieties. Hans hopes to focus more on this in the near future.
African Roots is the company of Paul Zwinkels and grows a wide range of starting materials from cuttings for bedding plants, perennials, (ornamental) grasses, herbs, cut flowers, and recently even a range of houseplants in Tumaini, Kenya. 90% of this plant material finds its way to growers in the Benelux and the rest throughout Europe. The past Covid years were good, but this year the market is taking a more wait-and-see attitude. Currently, there are still major fluctuations, but sales are back at a good level; a positive mood and confidence in the future seem to prevail again.
For more information:
African Roots 
Middel Broekweg 29
(Kantoor H184)
2675 KB Honselersdijk
Tel.: +31 (0)174 71 21 50
[email protected]
www.africanrootsplants.nl
