Metz Actueel

Welcome to the website of Metz
with recent information about Metz and the Flower Market

29-04-09

The Flower Council of Holland has developed a fantastic campaign to give that extra nudge to the public to buy more flowers in your shop now that the peak periods are over and it’s completely free!

The promotion will be on national radio and in the press from 18th to 29th May and will advertise the fact that buying flowers in their local participating florist will enable them to receive a scratchcard where if successful they will win one of 10 sunny fun flower parties worth £ 1500, with delicious snacks and drinks for all their friends.

A and B customers will automatically receive a promotion pack consisting of posters, bouquet cards and of course the scratchcards. So don’t delay – get the posters up, hand out the bouquet cards and put the scratchcards on the counter. The sooner you do this, the sooner it will have an impact on your sales.

28-04-09

Fleura and Metz have the intention to merge as of June 30th, 2009. The merger combination will operate under the name Fleura-Metz.

Metz and Fleura have reached this decision based on there mutual vision of the future. Important aspects of that are:

The florist is the focus. Together Fleura and Metz are better able to support and strengthen the market position of the florist. Fleura-Metz wants to be the best partner for the florist and achieves that for this segment by unique economies of scale and the presence of knowledge in terms of sourcing and logistics;

The delivery area of Metz and Fleura as of 2009 is Europe and North America. Both the “cash & carry” as well as the “direct-“ model are highly successful in these markets. The combination of both companies creates a unique total package of sales concepts with which florists in the whole world can optimally be serviced;

Fleura-Metz wants to intensify its efforts in terms of market support for the florist. Specific know-how must be developed further. Innovation in marketing is our mission, whereby present services such as workshops, focus groups, demo’s and Scala Verde comprise the early stages.

Not only the boards of Fleura and Metz, but a lot of other colleagues from various disciplines of both companies have in the past year and a half experienced positive experiences with each other in the spirit of cooperation within MFI.

The board of Fleura-Metz will operate from two headquarters: Westland and Aalsmeer.
The merger combination will be led by Robert Kalter and Frank Koenen. Both companies will continue unchanged in the market with their brands such as Metz, Fleura, HBI, Hottinger and Scala Verde.

Fleura-Metz has a revenue of circa 300 million Euro and supplies to 25,000 customers in Europe and North America. The group has 54 cash & carry’s and utilizes the worldwide Internet ordering system Iris. At Fleura-Metz 1,000 people are employed. Fleura-Metz is a member of MFI.

Websites:
www.fleura.com
www.metz.com
www.mfi-import.com

23-04-09

21-04-09

From the 27th April until the 15th May 2009 we are putting the CALLA in the spot lights at Metz. We can enjoy the calla in many colours all year round; They are traditionally mainly used in church arrangements, funeral pieces and wedding bouquets. But nowadays, it is also popular to use them in exclusive hand tieds or on their own in tall vases. As callas keep well out of water they are extremely suitable for corsages or buttonholes. Another advantage is the flexibility of the stem when kept out of water for a longer period, which is perfect for braiding. Try the callas out for yourself and benefit from their sharp prices!

If you do not receive a leaflet please contact the Metz Team in Holland.

08-04-09

Only 1 week to go before Metz hit the road again with the first series of Win Win Evenings in the London area. Johan Huisman will be on stage, showing fabulous wedding designs. The following week, Florian Seyd and Joan Stam will be hosting a further series of Win Win Evenings, dates and venues are listed below. So, If you have not subscribed yet, and don’t want to miss out, please contact the office now!

20th April 2009: Aztec Hotel & Spa in Almondsbury, Bristol

21st April 2009: The Watermill Hotel in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

22nd April 2009: Holiday Inn London – Bexley, Kent

27th April 2009: The Palm Court Hotel in Aberdeen
                          The Royal Toby Hotel in Castleton, Rochdale

28th April 2009: Dakota Hotel at Eurocentral Business Park in Glasgow
                          Manor House Hotel in Alsager, Stoke-on-Trent

29th April 2009: Holiday Inn Washington, Tyne & Wear
                          The Manor Hotel in Meriden, Coventry

”We just wanted to drop you a line to say a huge thank you for an inspiring evening at Bexley. As ever we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the evenings just get better and better. They are always so well organised, inspiring and give us all a chance to take a step back from day to day business and regain some inspiration.” – Amanda, Jane and Vincent from Distinctly Floral in Maidstone

After a few months with lower revenues, we could finally note a month with revenue growth again. Of course it didn’t hurt that the sales of English and Irish Mother’s Day were good. Added to that is the fact that the flower consumers in Germany and Italy don’t seem to be (at least for now anyway) affected by the crises. In the U.S. and Canada, our clients– after several dark months – are beginning to see a faint light at the end of the tunnel.

Worrisome are the low prices of certain product groups; we hope for normalization soon. For all of the partners in the chain this would result in a healthier situation. The expectations for April are reasonably positive. Easter is around the corner, Saint Jordi’s Day is celebrated in a big way in Catalonia, and at the tail of the month, we start getting close to International Workers’ Day (May 1st).

27-01-09

We are proud to introduce a new buying concept ‘Metz Basics’. This allows our customers to buy their flowers a little less expensively, without compromising the quality.

How does it work?

Many times florists are looking for a very specific colour in a flower, e.g. a black centred orange Gerbera with a tangerine shade. This variety of Gerbera is easily located on our pricelist.

Other times, however, the same florist is just looking for an orange Gerbera (and they don’t mind if the colour is dark orange or light orange, black centre or green centre) as long as it’s an orange Gerbera!

For occasions like this, we have created ‘Metz Basics’.

This allows florists to buy their basic product line (e.g. Lilies, Tulips, Callas, Amaryllis, Cymbidium, Spray Chrysants, Hyacinths, Gerberas, and Mini Gerberas) by colour – not variety! By giving us the flexibility to get the best deal available in the market that day, we can offer these products to the florist without compromising quality.

20-01-09

Scala Verde is now live and many of our valued “A” and “B” customers are benefiting from being part of this exciting concept. It is so easy to become part of the Scala Verde partnership and we are actively looking for Metz florists in many parts of the country to complete the network.

Do come and join us as in these difficult financial times, it makes sense to promote your business in the best way you can and Scala Verde will give you the edge over your competitors, together with value for money! To have the peace of mind to know that you are sending flowers, on behalf of your customer, to another Scala Verde partner with the knowledge that these orders will be executed by quality florists using quality Metz flowers, is very gratifying for you.

David of Style Workshop in Tunbridge Wells says: “We recently had an order from a regular customer who needed a bouquet to go to a hospital in Maidstone urgently. Luckily we knew that there was another “Scala Verde” shop called “Distinctly Floral” near there, who would maintain the Metz standards and quality. As a result the two of us got the business AND most importantly the customer was happy and will return in the future”.

Please apply for the “Scala Verde Partnership Form” today and you will soon be part of the innovative list of florists already taking part in the program. Contact Mieke on 0031.174747430 or by email to uk@metz.com.

06-01-09

Last July we told you about phase 1 of a new feature with Iris Online: a search engine, so you could search products by their name or parts of their name. Then we told you that behind the scenes we were working very hard on phase 2.

Good news! Phase 2 is ready and working, so now you will be able to search flowers, plants and sundries in different ways. With the button “Advanced Search” you can search on price, length/height, pot size or colour(s). You can also have a combination of these searching tools.

We hope this new tool will reduce your ordering time online and give you the option to find those special products you really need!

11-12-08

The Agora Group has decided that as of January 1st, 2009, to join as partner of Mondial Flower International (MFI). MFI was started in 2007 by Fleura and Metz. The purpose of MFI is to bundle knowledge and purchasing power, thereby optimizing its partners respective sourcing.

According to Gerd Nagels, CEO of the Agora Group, joining MFI is the right strategy to be able to leverage the internationalization and economies of scale that are occurring in the flower industry.

The board of MFI will be comprised of Richard Koenen (Metz, Chairman of the Board of MFI), Sidney Moll (Fleura) and Guy de Borger (Agora). MFI has locations in southern Europe, Africa, South America and North America. MFI purchases on behalf of more than 40,000 florists in the middle and high-end segment in Europe and North America.

The Agora Group supplies professional florists and garden centers via 20 cash & carry’s in Belgium and France.

The Fleura Group, with 53 cash and carry’s as well its direct export channel, is active in western and central Europe.

The Metz Group focuses on direct shipments to florists in western Europe and North America.

Kontich/Aalsmeer/Westland, December 11th, 2008

Since October 2004 Victor van Dijk (30) a Dutchman from the Westland area, famous for it's flower production, has been running our Quito office in Ecuador, he has lived in Ecuador for 7 years and has vast knowledge of the growers and transportation. This familiarity with the area has worked well and Metz are now sending flowers to USA, Canada and Europe. These are of the highest quality being sourced from our own partner growers and packed by them in Metz Ecuador boxes.

Ecuador has many climate zones so a large variety of flowers can be produced from large headed roses, tropicals to summer flowers. The trend at the moment is for garden style, large headed roses and these can be obtained in a variety of colours and the highest quality. A capital E on the pricelist tells you that these are sourced from Ecuador and you will see are competively priced. So why not give them a try or some of the beautiful range of tropicals and summer flowers that are presently available.

Click for a larger image.

On this website http://www.metz.com we have the facility to provide you with a service to advertise items you may want to sell. Whether it be to sell your business, van or any other item or advertise for new staff this can now be done free of charge. So let us help you. To give further information please apply to Mieke or Hans in Holland on 0031.174.74.74.30 or Fax 0031.174.74.74.34 or E-mail: uk@metz.com.