OZ-Hami celebrates 65th anniversary!
The year 2024 marks an important milestone for OZ-Hami, as it will be 65 years since Arie Ofman and Klaas van Zijverden founded OZ Export. A good reason to celebrate this iron jubilee with a big party.
On May 25, with the central theme of “Crazy Town,” this milestone was celebrated with a huge party, including cocktail bar, photo booth, VIP room and various food trucks. What made this anniversary extra special was the fact that this was the first joint OZ-Hami celebration since the merger of OZ Export and Hamifleurs in 2020. After several challenging years, all OZ-Hami colleagues can be proud of where OZ-Hami stands today: the merger has made the organization stronger, more future-proof and this anniversary symbolizes the resilience of OZ-Hami and its rich (shared) history.
We look back on an evening with a golden edge and look confidently to the future, together with our great team of colleagues, growers, customers and other valuable associates!
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OZ-Hami is helpingHoney Highway
Enthusiastic employees of the businesses on the VBA South property planted 5,600 gestation plants and flower shrubs, making Bee Park VBA South a reality. Following 35,000 square feet of flowers and 80 mature apple trees, the blooming season is now even more lush and longer, providing food for wild bees and a beautiful sight. Biodiversity that employees can walk through! The work around the bus stops, footbridge and exit to Royal FloraHolland in Aalsmeer is now almost complete. It is now high time to reseed the surrounding lands as Honey Highway. The businesses in and around this area are obviously closely involved, so that together the biodiversity on VBA South is increased. Currently, no other business park in the Netherlands has so much biodiversity Dozens of different Dutch flowering plants and flower shrubs have been planted, ensuring a prolonged flowering period. The pollen and nectar from these plants provide food for bees, butterflies, all insects, birds, pheasants, hares, and in the process, biodiversity creates healthy soil. Collaborating with Honey Highway Honey Highway created the bee park design and planting plan, this ensures that 5,600 proper plants and shrubs are in the field on time. Together with Eijkelboom’s workmen, five days of hard work will see an amazing Bee Park come to fruition. We at OZ-Hami, along with the other companies of Dutch Flower Group, are hugely involved, putting on hooded boots and also experiencing how fun and meaningful it is; nature education, team building and just being outside with each other. Looking ahead to summer Deborah Post, Honey Highway: “The goal is to see it teeming in the summer with bees, butterflies, little birds, pheasants who can find their food to survive in the otherwise barren environment of grasslands and large logistics halls in and around Aalsmeer. Thank you entrepreneurs!”
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OZ-HamiandZentoojoin hands forMela For Her
On March 8, we celebrate International Women’s Day worldwide to express our solidarity for women’s rights and equality. Every year, this traditionally means a very busy period for OZ-Hami and partner Zentoo. In fact, International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries with flowers, including many chrysanthemums. Although these millions of chrysanthemums are grown in the Netherlands, the origin of each branch is often thousands of miles away, in Ethiopia, among other places. Although chrysanthemum cuttings are able to thrive under good conditions in Ethiopia, unfortunately this is not true for a large proportion of girls and women in the rest of the country. Many face oppression, inequality, and crime on a daily basis. Mela for Her Mela for Her, an Ethiopian NGO, addresses the problem of inaccessible menstrual products. With 72% of women in Ethiopia unable to afford these products, many girls and women stay home from school or work during their periods, hampering their development and women’s rights. Mela for Her provides education and affordable, reusable menstrual products, enabling girls and women in need to continue participating in education and employment. #FlowersForHer promotion In light of Women’s Day, OZ-Hami and Zentoo, in collaboration with Dutch Flower Foundation, joined forces to do their part to contribute to this beautiful work by raising as much money as possible for Mela for Her. Especially for this promotion, Zentoo created a unique premium Women’s Day box exclusively for OZ-Hami. In partnership with Dutch Flower Foundation, an amount for each box sold was donated to Mela for Her. In the end, the campaign resulted in a contribution of 5,500.00 to Mela for Her, which enabled the purchase of 1,600 menstrual kits and more than met the goal of 1,500. A fantastic result for women and girls in Ethiopia!
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Successful launch of Preferred Partner Program at first Partner Event
The very first OZ-Hami Preferred Partner Event took place on Wednesday the 4th of September. An important step within the new Preferred Partner Program (PPP). This program, launched early this year, was created to work more closely with OZ-Hami growers. The goal is joint growth and improvement, focusing on activities such as “Grower of the Week” and data sharing. All 15 affiliated preferred partners were represented at the event, with a total of more than 30 participants. From OZ-Hami, several members of the management team, as well as teamleads of the purchasing and sales departments, attended. Together they looked ahead to the future and essential topics such as growth, collaboration and innovation were discussed in detail. Led by Siemen ten Bruggencate, they actively participated in thinking about ways to strengthen the partnership and achieve the strategic goals. “It was a very successful event, packed with valuable insights and ideas for the future,” said Ruben Sicking and Reinier Haasnoot, who opened the meeting with a presentation on OZ-Hami’s strategy. After the presentations and discussions, the growers were given the opportunity to sign the contract, confirming their commitment to further collaboration. The positive feedback from participating growers underscores the success of the event. This Preferred Partner Event provides a solid foundation for a lasting partnership, with OZ-Hami and its partners working together to build a colorful future in floriculture.
