Rovero Systems BV has a new director - Case Study

Although Roll-Air may remain the flagship product, flexibility is Rovero`s strength, according to Poljet. We have an enormous range of products. Moreover, our ability to produce tailor-made products contributes to this. We don`t shy away from tailor-made work. We listen to our customers and take on board suggestions if required. Most innovations come from the grower. Jacco van Delden adds: `Sometimes it can be about small things. For example, a roller door has a brush that has to be adjusted from time to time. As standard, there is a round hole in the profile and at the customer`s request, Rovero made an oval one, so that it is easier to adjust as the .... is moved. In fact, a small adjustment, but the customer was completely happy.

When Poljet started the job at Rovero, he knew he was not entering a `playground`. `You had to perform immediately. You look carefully at what will or will not bring in money. If the latter happens, I quit. I never talk about turnover. That is nice for the suppliers. You have to look at what the return of your business is. If there are losses, then you have to investigate what you are doing wrong. If you want to go to the positive side in the short term, then you have to determine the lower limit, without making a loss. From there, you start building again. Once you are out of this process, you can always look at new initiatives. You have to assess that properly.

He cites an example from the past. For example, our sales in Africa were interesting until 2008, when the Israeli companies came along. They received all kinds of financial benefits, so that Rovero could not compete with their price level. Then the Chinese appeared on the scene. Then you have to draw your conclusions, because we don`t want to make inferior products. Which markets are important to us? Where are the opportunities? Where can you still earn something? Then you start investing there and you set a target. That is how we have grown steadily. But you have to be able to adjust your ambitions, otherwise you get frustrated. This sector is too fluctuating, because you cannot plan for 10 per cent growth every year. There is no producer and no plant that can do that. You have huge growth years and bad times. Something only has to happen internationally and it has an impact on your business, like now the war in the Ukraine again.`

Speaking of good years, 2020 and 2021, which coincided with corona, were booming for Rovero. Our customers are in tree nurseries, bedding plants, flowers, fruit and breeding. We do less in large-scale cultivation, such as tomatoes and peppers. The growers in the Netherlands and Belgium still prefer to grow under glass, you can`t get that out of them quickly. This while over 80 percent of the world grows in plastic greenhouses. Foil is emerging here too, because the stereotypical image of a tunnel in the garden is now outdated. The foil sector has developed further and they all build greenhouses of 6 to 8 metres in height with good air systems. The advent of double film, which has a higher K value than glass, has also contributed. And not to forget, foil was available in a diffuse version earlier than glass.`

In tree nurseries, optimum ventilation of the greenhouse is especially important. Poljet: `The plants have to be hardened off, and then you have to approach the natural and climatic conditions as much as possible. The advantage of our Roll-Air greenhouse, for example, is that the grower or the garden centre does not have to constantly move the plants from inside to outside, and vice versa. You have less downtime, logistical and staff costs, and you take up less space. Van Delden adds: `You only have to open the greenhouse. In addition, these growers cultivate cold, so they are less affected by the high gas prices. For us, the market is growing enormously.

Now that Poljet has just celebrated his 67th birthday, he thinks it is time to pass the baton to Van Delden. Two years ago, I really didn`t think about stopping. But with the rapid developments in the current market, my feeling was that I was getting older and sometimes even slowing down the growth of the company. I could no longer do everything I set out to do. I also could no longer mentally bring myself to invest in decisiveness and in people. Rovero was never in the showcase, but at a certain point I thought: if the opportunity comes along, then I`ll look for people in whom I have confidence for the future. It is still a bit of a baby, after all. Gradually, the assignments grew over my head and that takes its toll. But I am lucky that I have met decent people in the person of Jacco, among others.

Meanwhile, successor Van Delden is familiarising himself with Poljet. During the various introductory rounds through the country, he experiences what an impact Rovero has in the market. I recently asked one of my business relations what Rovero means to him. He said: that`s a solid company that delivers quality products, provides a high level of service and still has a name and fame in the Netherlands. This was at a nursery in Boskoop, which is completely surrounded by companies with Rovero plastic greenhouses. These customers are proud of the Rovero products. This credit is not with me at all, but with Robert`.

The biggest difference in the future approach is that Van Delden is more focused on marketing than Poljet. I`m going to tell more about what Rovero stands for, the strength of the company that has been underexposed for too long. That is why it is so important to pay attention to the origins and how the company crawled out of the valley years ago only to find itself in an upward trend. I think it is good entrepreneurship that Robert is taking a step back so that he does not get in the way of rapid growth. Of course it hurts him a lot, but Robert is doing it.

The first contacts between Poljet and Van Delden were made over half a year ago. Van Delden was once a grower of hydroponic plants in the Westland. I actually went from being a grower to a greenhouse builder. This is not entirely surprising, because both categories are well represented in my family and circle of friends. I sold the nursery in 2012, after which, due to various circumstances, I went to run a factory for aluminium grilles for air conditioning in the United Arab Emirates and an associated trading company in Kenya. As this chapter shows many similarities, it gave me an insight into the production process here in Raamsdonkveer, where aluminium is also used. I had been thinking about leaving the Middle East and spending more time at home in the Netherlands when I was approached about taking over Rovero. During the first meeting with Robert, we immediately clicked and the ball got rolling. I took over the company with the support of a private company. I see lots of opportunities and possibilities, and I think the contribution Rovero products make to the food supply is a great challenge.

Van Delden praises the foundation that has been laid for Rovero. That is very important to build on. There may be some bumps in the road, but in any case the foundation is sound. Rovero was founded in 1955 and has always delivered quality products. This has never been compromised, not even during crises. People who own a Rovero product are proud of it. These are elements that you can`t build with a social media campaign. The only shortcoming of the `old` Rovero is that the success story has not been told to everyone`.

When he takes office, Van Delden will therefore definitely not change course completely. I will continue the product quality, the care for the staff and the added value of our product for customers. There are still enough hidden values that we can communicate. This is where I will use my expertise and give Rovero`s story a twist. In the short term, for example, we will be launching a new website and using social media more actively. I`m also going to put the long-term vision on paper, whereby product development will receive extra attention. Robert, who is in the office two days a week for the time being, will support me in word and deed during this transitional period. This also gives me the freedom to set up the marketing and to master Rovero`s DNA. The strategy for this year is to take on more staff so that we can guarantee even better service and development. I am also making a tour of customers to learn about the products and intensify cooperation with existing partners. We are aiming for a system with premium partners who are a trusted purchase point for our products.

Van Delden continues: `We are reviewing the existing products and improving them where possible, with the help of Robert`s expertise. In addition, Rovero will be coming up with a new product next year that we cannot say anything about yet. We are really going to surprise the market with this. In addition to the extra effort in product development, we have invested heavily in our stock, which has risen explosively. We did this precisely because of the uncertain raw materials market, in which you cannot make normal quotations. In this way, we can freeze prices and continue to offer quotations at that price level. Moreover, we can guarantee that the materials will be there on time. All in all, we are going to prepare Rovero in all aspects for the substantial growth we want to embark on from next year. Integrity, transparency and quality are the essential conditions for doing business in the long term.

Finally, Poljet is definitely not sitting in the dock. In addition to his consultancy work for Rovero, he still has plenty to do at home and in the garden. And I am going to enjoy my family and life. I`ve had a great life so far, because I`ve seen practically the whole world. I`ve also got good health. So I can count myself rich.

According to Van Delden, the Roll-Air is a unique foil greenhouse, the like of which does not exist anywhere else in the world. This is truly an export product of which we are naturally very proud. But we must not forget that the tunnels still account for a larger proportion of our turnover than the Roll-Air. We are very thorough in that and have all kinds of solutions and variations for it. An example of this is that I recently visited a customer who has no fewer than four hundred Rovero tunnels.

Apart from the logistical advantages that the Roll-Air offers, the cabrio greenhouse was developed for better control of the climatic conditions. Poljet: `Sometimes the grower wants a consta

According to Van Delden, the Roll-Air is a unique foil greenhouse, the like of which does not exist anywhere else in the world. This is truly an export product of which we are naturally very proud. But we must not forget that the tunnels still account for a larger proportion of our turnover than the Roll-Air. We are very thorough in that and have all kinds of solutions and variations for it. An example of this is that I recently visited a customer who has no fewer than four hundred Rovero tunnels.

Apart from the logistical advantages that the Roll-Air offers, the cabrio greenhouse was developed for better control of the climatic conditions. Poljet: `Sometimes the grower wants a constant temperature or to play with humidity. If you are growing outside, you have no control over the growing conditions, but you do in a greenhouse. The Roll-Air is also set to a climate computer to create the ideal growing conditions.

nt temperature or to play with humidity. If you are growing outside, you have no control over the growing conditions, but you do in a greenhouse. The Roll-Air is also set to a climate computer to create the ideal growing conditions.

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