Learning for Tomorrow paid a visit to Sjaak Buijs B.V. in De Lier and spoke with three enthusiastic successors to their family businesses: Mike Gitzels (30), Quinten Buijs (22) and Teun Vereijken (25). Mike and Teun participate in the project Toekomstmakers; a four-day program for young entrepreneurs that focuses on personal growth, the sustainable development of greenhouse businesses and the greater good in society. Quinten is in the Horticultural Future Trajectory of Horticultural Youth Westland. What the gentlemen have in common is that they want to continue their parents' businesses with love and enthusiasm. They also want to do things differently, because they know the future is coming. How do they do that? What is their role now and how do they deal with their, sometimes very stubborn, parents who paved the way for them?
Mike recently officially took over his parents' business. He is now the final boss of Plant Nursery Gitzels, located in the West Frisian town of Wervershoof. Gitzels grows cabbages on 14 acres; cauliflower, white cabbage, broccoli and red cabbage. Mike dials in, because the time he has to put into the long trip to the Westland could be better spent on the shop floor and so it is! Technology stands for everything, so let's make the most of it. The atmosphere at the table is immediately good and very open. Teun is confused, because he is wearing two hats. One cap is from Hoogendoorn Growth Management, where he is currently strategic assistant. The other cap is from the family business Vereijken Kwekerijen, which grows the well-known Tasty Tom tomatoes on some 60 hectares. When the time is literally right, Teun will join the company. We agree that he is here mainly on his own behalf, as being a new generation greenhouse grower. For Quinten, it's a home game. We sit around the table where he must have sat many times that week. For consultations on the daily routine or just for a cup of coffee with his father. Sjaak Buijs B.V. grows Calatheas on 2.3 hectares; one of the most famous houseplants in the Netherlands. Quinten deals with change management within the company and later takes over.
Collaboration key to success
Mike is considering collaborations with his group within Future Makers. The question they have focused on as a group is 'can we build bridges both inside and outside the industry and how can we better present our story? 'We are good at producing, are constantly moving and are appreciated worldwide. We just forget to tell the story in the Netherlands. That can cost us dearly, especially in today's society, which is very critical of the sector,' Mike says. Quinten adds that there are many opportunities just outside the greenhouse horticulture sector, such as the sustainability sector. Quinten: 'Friends of mine are studying 'Landscape and Environment Management'. I jokingly call them the "left-wing climate geeks from the city. In turn, they call me a "right-wing destroyer of the earth. It's a joke within the group, but it shows how dangerous it is if you stay in your own bubble and don't engage in conversation. Precisely these two groups need to seek each other out.
Education as a starting point
When you learn in school to work (together) across disciplines and sectors, you think very differently and also execute differently. This is something Teun and Mike would have liked to learn more about during their studies at the HAS. Quinten did learn to work across disciplines at InHolland, but unfortunately that was not always effective. 'If you learn it early, it feels more natural to look up neighbors and pick up the phone to work together,' Quinten said. The bit about systems thinking or just changing it is something that could also be addressed more. Teun: 'Schools are always lagging behind. That can change if not only the students, but especially the teachers are in close contact with the sector and business. Conversely, the same applies to companies. Talk to schools: robotization is coming in greenhouse horticulture, shall we call the electronics schools for help?'
The new generation of horticulturists
Those are not so afraid of change and uncertainty. That is something all three gentlemen agree on. Mike: "The generation before us built the industry solidly with efficiency and production as key words. Some steps in the past are not beneficial for the future. It is partly up to us to look forward and together tell and execute the right story.' Thanks in part to his participation in Future Makers, Mike is confident of that. 'We quite dare to take steps, without knowing exactly where it will end or expecting perfection in advance.' According to Teun, that is how the current generation mostly operates; 'it has to be perfect and then we will do it.' A good example is robotization. Teun: 'The current system is set up for labor. If you put a robot in the place of the worker overnight, it's not going to work. You can do it bit by bit, though, and optimize the robots more and more.' Sounds pretty logical, yet there are many companies that first want to see that a machine can deliver 100 percent and only then switch. Then such a machine cannot make meters before it delivers one hundred percent. Teun is involved in system innovation within Toekomstmakers. Teun: "As a group, we ask ourselves: what would the sector look like if we started from scratch? That question generates more questions than answers, but what the group already knows is that they need to involve many more people who are outside the sector, but are part of society. 'There's always five percent who whine and five percent who adore you. There's ninety percent in between and that's where you need to focus," Teun said.
Let go dad & mom
How can the new generation have the freedom to do it their way, but still use the knowledge and skills of the previous generation? That question is regularly discussed at Teun's home. 'We can't have them handing over the baton and then still interfering with everything,' says Teun. At Gitzels, they have that pretty tightly regulated. Mike: 'My parents can give advice, but I set the course.' At Vereijken Kwekerijen, as 'children of' we have a place on the advisory board. Several times a year we meet under supervision and discuss the future of the company. This can sometimes get heated. We have one agreement: work stays work. As soon as we leave the room we are family again and that is the most important thing," says Teun. Quinten is involved in change management within the family business, so he is close to the action. He too experiences that his father sometimes finds it difficult to think differently, but the benevolence is there. Dutch greenhouse horticulture may just be the answer to international food issues, but for that the old & new generation must join forces and take society on the journey towards sustainability!
This article is part of the Regioportret Westland (article 3/3). With it we visualize how education and business in the Westland region work together on 'Sustainability skills': the skills needed in the circular economy of the future. We hope to inspire other regions to accelerate the transition to the circular economy. Check out the other regional portraits of this region:
Author: Clarisse Kers-van der Veld
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