The Greenery has blamed weak prices and increasing consolidation among European retailers for its poor performance in 2013. Publishing its annual results today, the company said net turnover fell to €1.3bn from €1.4bn in 2012, continuing the downward trend seen since 2010.
The company made a net loss of €21m, most of which it attributed to a restructuring plan announced at the end of last year. Its regular business operations made a net loss of €2m for 2013.
In December, interim chief executive Okke Koo launched a major overhaul of its organisation structure in a bid to return the company to profitability that included the loss of 350 jobs. It has put in place a strategy for 2014-2018 that will focus on centralised management of its product flows, increasing the efficiency of its logistical network and a more streamlined commercial structure with fewer staff.
“For 2014 this will include making more and better use of qualified grower sites to supply customers directly,” the company said in a statement. “This will lead to lower supply chain costs, and it also responds to retailer demand for buying ‘from the source’.”
The strategy has already resulted in 4 per cent more volume being shipped directly from grower sites since mid-March, The Greenery said.
The company also announced that it would be overhauling its logistics network, cutting the number of distribution centres to three over a period of three years.
The Greenery’s commercial structure has been split into separate business divisions, with sales to retail and trade customers and sourcing managed separately. Commercially, the company will focus on supplying the European retail trade, with particular focus on the Dutch, German and UK markets.
