ID'Flor | Horticulture

ID’Flor is part of the Floré group, a horticultural family business. With a consolidated turnover of 120 million euros and 550 employees, the Floré group is market leader in Belgium and one of the leading European horticultural companies. Within the group, ID’Flor specialises in azalea, rhododendron, clivia and fargesia.

Petra Brackenier, managing director of ID’Flor: “We focus on the quality segment of the market and strive to be the reference for each of our products. We market our products as a brand, with their own identity and character. Hortinno® is the best-known brand for azalea and rhododendron.”

Over 60 years’ experience
“In 1954, ID’Flor started producing azaleas in Lochristi. At present, ID’Flor has about 40 employees and branches in Lochristi, Moerbeke and Destelbergen. We have a total of 20 hectares of own production space: 10 ha of greenhouses and 10 ha of container fields. In addition, we have our partners that we collaborate with intensively”, Petra Brackenier summarises. “Our speciality and main activity continues to be azaleas”, she emphasises. “We are active in the entire chain for azaleas, from breeding – through our sister company Hortibreed – via the production of green azaleas, trading in green azaleas, forcing to marketing. In addition, we also produce and breed rhododendron, clivia and fargesia.”

Trade

ID’Flor’s products primarily go to (chains of) garden centres, florist shops and high-end supermarkets, whereby they achieve over 95% of their turnover abroad. Their main markets are Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and England, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Wave of investment from production to marketing

“Investing has become a continuous process in various domains simultaneously. In the area of production, we invest in breeding and the product development of azalea and rhododendron. A new greenhouse has been built and the production of azalea and rhododendron is being automated. We constantly reassess our production to produce in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

Our products need a new image. That’s why we want to focus on product development, quality, good communication and selective marketing. We want every plant that leaves us to lead to a special experience for the consumer and we believe that plants and flowers can contribute to bringing happiness, comfort, joy and colour to many people’s lives”, Petra Brackenier concludes.

Investing in man & nature
“Within the company we truly believe in keeping doing business in balance with man and nature. We dedicate additional attention and resources to ensure that our employees enjoy working for the company and can develop their talents. That is why, as an organisation, we work to ensure our customers are satisfied, which makes our employees happy and successful and improves society”, Petra explains.

“We are a company that sees ecological sustainability as a core value. We are convinced that by constantly making an effort in this domain we are making a positive contribution to our environment. For us, producing in a sustainable way means being in harmony with nature and that is why we actively look for sustainable production systems”, she explains.

“Focussing on environmentally friendly products is a priority, and that is why we develop and produce products with a minimum impact on the environment. As a company, we already have a number of sustainability certificates (MPS-A, MPS-GAP), and we want to keep taking this a step further”, Petra concludes.

ID’Flor in figures: