Afriflora

𝔸𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕣𝕒, 𝔻𝔽𝔽 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℂ𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕒 𝕛𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕝 With a generous gift of Dutch Flower Foundation and Afriflora we were able to establish two extra brand new E-learning centers at the Sher-school in Ziway. Last year, we installed 50 computers at the Highschool. This time it was the turn of the primary school to receive the new computers. Camara Education that provided 50 new computers and two servers, supplies computers to schools and train teachers, often in rural and far-flung parts of Ethiopia. They help to create a secure and dust-free environment for a computer classroom. Their trainers visited the school for a week, training all elementary teachers in the use of computers in the curriculum and giving advice on basic maintenance. Camara’s computers run on the Ubuntu open-source operating system. They are pre-loaded with a range of educational software, from simple games to specialized Camara Learning Studio resources for math and science. All computers are also loaded with an offline version of Wikipedia, creating an extraordinary learning resource for schools with limited internet connections. And most important of all, the computers are installed with PDFs of Ministry of Education textbooks covering the entire school curriculum. Textbooks are in very short supply in many of Ethiopia’s 40,000 schools, so this alone is a crucial resource. Dutch Flower Foundation (DFF) aims to improve the living conditions and well-being of people in need and in particular children. They focus on countries where Dutch Flower Group (DFG) companies are active with an emphasis on connected community projects. Through the activities of DFF, DFG gives substance to its responsibility for the world in which we live. 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙧. 𝙉𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙚 𝘼𝙜𝙖: ‘𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧-𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨. 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙧-𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙖. 𝘼𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨’. Afriflora operates three farms in Ethiopia under the name Sher Ethiopia. In the Sher schools 6800 children ranging from Kindergarten to Highschool get free education. On behalf of the students and teachers we would like to sincerely thank DFF and Camara for their highly appreciated contribution in this project. #computer #donation #agri #ethiopia #roses #dff #dfg #school

ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℂ𝔼𝕆 𝔸𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕣𝕒   We would like to welcome Freark Bruinsma (LLM) Bruinsma who started as CEO of Afriflora with effect from July 1, 2024. He succeeds Cees de Greve, who resigned on May 1.   Freark has a broad background in operational and commercial positions at various companies in the Netherlands and abroad. With this knowledge and experience, he has the right skills to lead Afriflora in the next phase of the company's development, so that we can continue to meet all the demands that the changing environment and our customers place on us.   The management team is happy with his appointment and is convinced that Freark will quickly become a familiar face within our organization and among our clients. We wish him every success. #ceo #succes #welcome #rozen #aalsmeer #agri #news

𝔻𝕦𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕝𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝔼𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕠𝕡𝕚𝕒 ℍ𝕠𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 In our efforts to upgrade the services of the Sher Hospital in Batu / Ziway we have recently received a significant donation from Dutch Flower Foundation which was used to buy a fully automated BS-200E chemistry analyser. This device operates with an open system that uses multiple reagents. Now the hospital can buy different types of reagents from local market with fair price and good quality. It can perform multiple tasks: organ function test like renal function tests, liver function tests, electrolyte tests and others. Because it is fully automated, less human intervention is needed. It has a capacity of performing 200 tests per hour. Laboratory Head, Surafel Kebede, emphasises on quality service delivery which requires not only qualified personnel to perform the tests promptly but also infrastructure like modern laboratory machine. He says: “The laboratory has implemented major improvements over the last two years including room expansion, replacement of old equipment and staff training programs. The new chemistry analyser helps us to improve our services even further.” After installation and a professional training from the manufacturer for all staff involved, the new machine was put into use. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dutch Flower Foundation on behalf of all employees of the Sher hospital for this generous donation. At Sher hospital all Sher employees (approx. 12.500) and Sher-students (6.500) get free medical care. Members of the community are served at a low-cost rate. Over 100.000 patients are treated every year. Dutch Flower Foundation (DFF) aims to improve the living conditions and well-being of people in need and in particular children. Through the activities of DFF, DFG gives substance to its responsibility for the world in which we live. #MedicalCare #health #healthcare #project #laboratory #laboratorium #roses #Ethiopia

𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕪𝕖𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕤 At Sher Ethiopia inclusion of employees with disabilities has always been without doubt. Nevertheless, we are grateful that within the DONUTS program of Fairtrade Africa another 70 disabled employees have been supported with devices to enable them to work more comfortable. Making the total beneficiaries 178.  In this project Sher Ethiopia and Fairtrade Africa team up with Gerarbet Rehabilitation Association, located in Ziway, to carry out the measurements for the beneficiaries to determine the kind of device required and the proper fitting of the devices. These include a.o. tricycles, crutches, artificial limbs, eyeglasses, and hearing devices. Recently, these devices have been handed out. We sincerely thank Fairtrade Africa and the Gerarbet Rehabilitation Association for their great work and support. #inclusion #disabilities #roses #project

𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕣 ℍ𝕠𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕏-𝕣𝕒𝕪 Recently, the Dental Clinic has undergone a big renovation. The room now has two dentist chairs making the procedures more efficient. The traditional X-ray machine has been replaced by a portable digital X-ray. Instead of using film, we now use an electronic sensor to take pictures. Previously, while using traditional X-ray technology, for the development chemicals were needed. Moreover, it took a lot of time and the quality of the images were inferior compared to digital X-ray. Dr.Netsanet Abebe, dentist: ”I am very happy with this addition to our clinic. The digital X-ray makes perfect images which are available right on demand making our patient flow more efficient.’ Sher Ethiopia continues to invest in its hospital that serves employees, Sher- School students and community members. #dentist #x-ray #roses #hospital

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕞𝕡𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕗𝕖𝕥𝕪 ℤ𝕚𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔸𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕚 𝕋𝕦𝕝𝕦 In Ethiopia, our farms are located next to the main road that connects Addis Abeba to Moyale. Despite the fact that the new highway has reduced traffic intensity, unfortunately there are still many traffic accidents. That is why we have been lobbying for some time to implement speed-reducing measures. Last week, the Ethiopian Road Authorities (ERA) have constructed a total of 6 speeds bumps in the vicinity of our farms. We would like to thank the ERA for their cooperation. We hope our employees and the community members are better protected now. #ERA #RoadSafety #ethiopia #roses #safety

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕞 𝕗𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℂ𝔼𝕆 ℂ𝕖𝕖𝕤 𝕕𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝔸𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕣𝕒/𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕣  Last week we said goodbye to our highly valued CEO Cees De Greve. He has decided to leave Afriflora Sher as of May 1, 2024. Since his arrival at the company in 2018, a very successful transition has been initiated under his leadership. Afriflora Sher has been converted from a large and unique family business into a successful, modern organization where it has managed to retain its social heart. Under the motto ‘𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨’, Afriflora Sher contributes to the livelihoods of no fewer than 13,000 employees and more than 6,500 students. Cees can look back on a period in which he achieved a lot. Every day, 2.5 to 4 million roses find their way to consumers throughout Europe. Cees' leadership was characterized by involvement, versatility, an eye for quality and fun. His knowledge, skills and friendship will be missed in both the Dutch and Ethiopian organizations. In recent weeks, Cees has been said goodbye in a festive manner in the Netherlands and Ethiopia. For example, the newly opened Sher primary school in Adami Tulu (Ethiopia) has been dedicated to him as a token of great appreciation. The management team, together with the employees, will continue the course set by Cees and they thank Cees for his enormous efforts and contribution to Afriflora/Sher.

𝔽𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕨𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟’𝕤 𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕔𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝔼𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕓𝕓𝕖 𝕌𝕘𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕒 On April 3rd & 4th 2024 Fairtrade International Woman’s Day was celebrated in Entebbe at Wagagai Farm. The purpose of the celebration was to share success stories and initiatives that showcase Fairtrade’s efforts in empowering women towards gender equity.   Representatives were present from many African Fairtrade certified producers, as well as Woman School of Leadership project beneficiaries, government representatives, partners and stakeholders of Fairtrade Africa. On behalf of Sher Ethiopia, roman Asfaw (Environmental Manager) participated. She shared Sher Ethiopia’s best practices in relation to women empowerment. For example, the distribution of MELAFORHER sanitary packages for students as well as for employees.   The program contained a visit to Wagagai Limited, a company with more than 2000 employees and various initiatives such as a radio project to interact with the community and disseminate information on various topics.    ‘While we have come a long way with diversity, equity, and inclusion, we still have far to go until women are equally recognized for their professional contributions. We will keep striving to meet our goal by offering our employees and community members a range of training opportunities and programs’ stated by the all participants. At Sher Ethiopia, we are committed to do our part.  #fairtrade #inclusion #diversity #empoweringwoman #roses #ethiopia

𝒱𝒶𝒸𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒿𝓊𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝓀𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓇 Bij Afriflora Sher gaat het werk over rozen: we zijn de grootste rozenkweker ter wereld en daar zijn we trots op. Onze kassen staan in Ethiopië. Met verschillende lokale projecten dragen we bij aan een betere levensstandaard, zoals drinkwaterprojecten, herbeplanting van bossen en sociale huisvesting. En weet je wat: we zijn op zoek naar een collega om ons team te versterken. Misschien ben jij wel onze nieuwe Junior inkoper! (40 uur) Want je zoekt een topjob bij een uniek bedrijf waar ‘groeien’ letterlijk en figuurlijk ons dagelijks werk is. In deze baan word je door de manager inkoop opgeleid tot allround inkoper. Je houdt je bezig met het voorraadbeheer en de inkoop van alle benodigdheden voor de teelt in Ethiopië. Dat gaat van kunstmest tot verpakkingsmateriaal en van elastiekjes tot machineonderdelen. Je werkt nauw samen met de productiedirecteur en de farmmanager. Met hen stem je af wat de voorraadpositie is en welke bestellingen er wanneer gedaan moeten worden. Dat regel je vervolgens met de leveranciers. Je doet marktonderzoek naar nieuwe producten en leveranciers. Je ondersteunt daarnaast onze Agronomist, die zich bezighoudt met het ontwikkelen en verbeteren van het teeltproces en veel kennis heeft van ontwikkelingen op dat vlak. Samen zoeken jullie naar nieuwe mogelijkheden en verbeteringen. Verder weet jij precies wat de status is van onze bestellingen. Je hebt regelmatig contact met de import officer in Ethiopië over de voortgang en zorgt ervoor dat de administratieve afhandeling van de ingekochte goederen op tijd en accuraat wordt uitgevoerd. Kortom: een veelzijdige functie in een dynamisch bedrijf, waarin je veel kunt leren. Als je minimaal een MBO-opleiding niveau 4 hebt afgerond in een commerciële of logistieke richting (en misschien zelfs al wat werkervaring hebt op een inkoopfunctie), het Nederlands én het Engels goed beheerst, handig bent met de computer en zin hebt in een functie waarin je kunt laten zien wat je waard bent en kunt doorgroeien in de toekomst, dan is dit een mooie kans. Wat hebben we voor jou in de aanbieding? Een hecht team, flexibele werktijden, regelmatige bedrijfsuitjes, volop mogelijkheden voor groei en opleiding en natuurlijk een goed salaris met de cao Groothandel in bloemen en planten als basis. En niet te vergeten een goed verhaal over hoe jij bijdraagt aan dit prachtige bedrijf waar je echt verschil kunt maken. Direct reageren? Mail je brief en CV naar Myrna van der Poel, onze HR manager, op mvanderpoel@afriflora.nl. Op dat adres kun je ook terecht als je nog vragen hebt of om een belafspraak te maken. We kijken uit naar je sollicitatie! #inkoper #job #werkzoeken #solliciteren

𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕀𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟: 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕎𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟’𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕪 ℂ𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙 𝟠/𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜. On March 8 and 9, International Women’s Day (IWD) was celebrated at Sher Ethiopia. Inspire Inclusion was the world wide theme, and we organized a set of activities in light of this. The festivities started on March 8 with a welcoming speech by our COO Aswin Endeman and our operations director Andrew Brooke-Smith. They emphasized the importance of inclusion to our company, where we actively work on equality for all our employees and where we value the contribution of all our colleagues. After that, the gender committee had a virtual meeting with the women of the city council of Zoeterwoude, a village in The Netherlands. They were also celebrating International Women’s Day, and it was truly inspiring to share experiences and to learn from each other. On March 9, we celebrated IWD at our farms for all employees. In Ziway, a photobooth was installed at the entrance gate, and the gender committee welcomed employees with music and dancing. Many pictures were taken at the booth and it was a good and happy start of the working day for many. Inclusion also means that Sher Ethiopia wants to emphasize that it is important that every employee that comes to work feels comfortable about personal hygiene. For that reason, the company distributed ‘Mela for her’ reusable sanitary kits to harvesters on all farms. Women of other departments will not be forgotten, more will follow. Finally, a gender committee convention was organized at the clubhouse at Ziway farm. There was a panel discussion that covered topics related to women’s rights, gender equality, and the challenges and achievements of women in various spheres of life. We look back on a great day where we celebrated the achievements of women throughout the company and where we got inspired to keep on working on inclusion. The motto ‘Invest in women, accelerate progress’ will help us all to keep this in mind. #women #womensday #genderequality #Ethiopie