Agro Dynamics Inc. continues as Grodan Inc.
Grodan has taken a new strategic decision by transforming its American subsidiary company, distributor Agro Dynamics Inc., into Grodan Inc. As of October 1st 2007, Grodan Inc. will fully focus on the sales of Grodan substrates in North America.
Local dealer
Twenty years ago, Grodan was the first company of the Rockwool Group that took the leap across the Atlantic Ocean to introduce growing solutions based on substrate in the United States. Within a limited period of time Grodan managed to build up a large market share with these solutions in the US. In order to expand the business at a higher pace, Grodan entered a cooperation agreement with Agro Dynamics Inc., a local distributor of horticultural accessories. In 1999 the cooperation was taken to a higher level when Grodan purchased a majority interest in Agro Dynamics. One year later the remainder of the shares was taken over by Grodan as well.
The American market was then characterized by many small greenhouses, a limited number of suppliers and even fewer distributors. Agro Dynamics held an unique position, being the only distributor that served the US, Canada and Mexico and that could offer a wide variety of greenhouse necessities. The products were most often sourced from European suppliers, not at least while most customers were too small to order full containers from Europe and/or to handle import procedures. By fulfilling the role of ‘one-stop-shop’ distributor, Grodan was enabled to grow its core business.
Professionalization
Over the past years the North American greenhouse industry has undergone a significant development. Similar to the development in the Benelux, North American greenhouse operators have consolidated and expanded their business. “Many greenhouse corporations have become large enough to purchase their greenhouse necessities directly from their (European) suppliers and are now handling logistics and import facilities themselves. What once was a key strength for Agro Dynamics, has become a simple routine for our customers,” says Erwin Prins, CEO of Grodan Inc., who has recently analyzed the development of the North American market. “Simultaneously, with the professionalization and consolidation of the greenhouse industry, our customers’ environment has become more competitive than ever: continuous improvements in terms of crop quality and yield are the main success parameters. As a result the demand for state-of-the-art know how and products have increased considerably.“
“The decision to change our North American business model from ‘distributor’ to ‘focused Grodan supplier’ is driven by our customers’ demand.” says Maurice Husson, General Manager of Grodan Group. “We have grown with our customers, and they see themselves confronted with different challenges than before. Where we previously fulfilled a role in supplying various greenhouse necessities, we today add more value by supplying advanced substrates, combined with growing knowledge. I would like to emphasize that a
closing or selling of Agro Dynamics is out of the question. The current legal entities continue to exist under the name of Grodan Inc. Legally there will not be any changes for our partners. We do not expect our customers to be faced with any hinder from this change in strategy. In a short transit period, they can still order non-Grodan growing necessities from Grodan Inc. and our employees will gladly assist them in finding a new supplier for certain accessories.”
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