How did Expo Flora come about?

Stefan: "My father, Aad Enthoven, founded the company in 1985 when he and someone started renting out plants at Jaarbeurs Utrecht and other fair locations. Three or four years later Herman joined, who comes from a family of greengrocers."
Herman: "I was twenty-five at the time. After working as an employee for several years, I became a co-shareholder. Renting out plants and flowers went so well that we opened branches in England, France and Germany - which was convenient in the days when the borders were still closed. At the time, the company was based in Vleuten. When Aad was able to sell the land at a good price for housing in 1999, the current building with greenhouses was moved into in Harmelen. Aad left the company shortly thereafter. In 2000 I took over Expo Flora from him and then asked Stefan to step in. I didn't do that just because he is such a nice guy. After the takeover we were rather short of cash and Stefan, who comes from the flower export business, had a good network that allowed us to pay a week later. That gave us room to build up the company slowly and pay off Aad. At first I had a majority stake, but now Stefan and I are in it fifty-fifty."

How has the company developed since the acquisition?

Herman: "We worked primarily with booth builders who served trade shows throughout Europe. Per booth, the trade varied from a plant or flower arrangement to a complete garden. One stand didn't pay off, of course. So what did we do? We brought the orders that came in from abroad to the various fairs in one go - trucks full. But slowly but surely the market in plant and flower rental was dwindling. This was because booths were becoming more beautiful: more displays and other attributes were added, leaving less space for greenery. One of the customers in our database, Mercedes-Benz, approached us in 2007 with the idea of live cooking at the booth. We seized that opportunity to reinvent ourselves: we had furniture made especially for their booth. Whereas the furniture rental companies mainly provided sleek furniture, we invested in lounge-style furniture, hipper and more atmospheric - that was not yet available. We had the first lines of furniture made, in-house, in Poland: we brought flowers and plants there every week and now the trailers didn't have to return to Harmelen empty."
Stefan: "In that business we grew tremendously. We wanted even more luxurious stuff and soon the furniture came not only from Poland, but also from Italy and Spain. It didn't stop at tables and chairs. We noticed that many booths used those little white walls as partitions. We came up with the Expo Wall system: two columns with a decorative cloth that can be rolled out from the bottom to the top. We put together a range of uniform cloths, but also gave the customer the option of a custom-made solution with, for example, their own logo on it. Thus, the decoration of exhibitions and stands became more and more beautiful and customers became aware that Expo Flora makes a difference in this. Not for nothing is our motto 'creating the difference'."
Herman: "We are very customer-oriented, always listening to what the wishes are. We put the ideas for decoration or furniture on paper, then we make the rough designs in-house. Is it to the customer's liking? Then we will buy it or manufacture it in-house and then offer it, at a lower price, for rent. But we have to be convinced that it fits our offering and we can rent it out many more times."

"We offer a total package and are committed to that."

What else sets Expo Flora apart?

Stefan: "In the event industry, you have companies that do total decoration. We saw those companies grow tremendously fifteen years ago. Why couldn't we do the same at trade shows? But trade shows are much bigger; we only did a piece of that. If you want a bigger piece of the pie, you have to get bigger yourself. What happens in events, we translated to trade shows. We are unique in that. No one does it on as large a scale as we do. The breakthrough in that was the last AutoRAI, in 2015. That was, so to speak, our exam. We had a deal with the RAI to furnish all the stands. A seriously big deal, we didn't have that stuff. We then made a huge investment, for which we took out a loan from the bank for two-thirds and contributed money ourselves for one-third. That became a huge success. Later that year we took on the BedrijfsautoRAI. We really went through a growth spurt and developed Expo Flora into a major player at the table of the organization."
Herman: "We offer a total package and put our money where our mouth is. Compare it to a kitchen builder who draws your new kitchen in 3D. He can expect you to then give him the order as well. It's the same with us: we think creatively with the customer, make a design, and then it's an unwritten law that if it works, we get to deliver everything."

How has Expo Flora grown as a family business?

Stefan: "My daughter Bo has always said: I want to come and work for you. Even at eighteen, when she had just gotten her driver's license, she started working here. Then she also got her truck and trailer license. She started as a flower binder in the bindery. Only she couldn't continue to grow there. That's why she became skilled in drawing. She now does most of the big jobs and has also developed commercially. My oldest son, Nick, first worked in my flower business and then, after traveling for six months, joined our business when he was ²⁶. My youngest son Kai recently joined the team in the Junior Operations position."
Herman: "My youngest son was studying architecture, but ended up sitting at home due to corona. Then Stefan asked, 'Can't Alec come work here?' Like Bo, Alec is into design, and he also does a lot at the trade shows in the area of logistics. So we have a two-family-in-one business, where the third generation has already stepped in."
Stefan: "And my wife Els is physically in our business with her company STYLERZ24, specialist in silk flowers. Because that's a smaller company, Bo can nicely watch her do business."

MASTERS Magazine

Curious about the rest of the interview? In the spring edition of MASTERS, three entrepreneurs shed light on the future: Raymon Pouwels (GO Sharing), Merel van Helsdingen (Nxt Museum) and Tim van der Wiel (GoSpooky). According to the latter, ever-accelerating technological advances offer tremendous opportunities. "There has never been a better time to have a good idea. Technology is in your pocket!" Sports journalist Jaap de Groot outlines the contours of the new playing field of international sport after the resounding success of the World Cup in Qatar. And futurist Adjiedj Bakas also shines his light on the future. According to him, next year will be dominated by the search for the economy of happiness. "We are not only going to look at what makes us money, but what makes us happy," he says. Perhaps this edition contributes to that, with a look back at MASTERS EXPO, a road trip with the new Range Rover and interviews with equestrian Pope Jan Tops, Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner, chef Margot Janse and visual artist Spencer Tunick. Happiness!

MASTERS #53