Floriday
The South African company Zuluflora has been an enthusiastic user of FreshPortal Software for several years. By using FreshPortal Software we are able to link and integrate all growers and look at our production as a whole, said a Worthington and Hamish Godbold of Zuluflora. If you want to know why, you should first have some more information about Zuluflora.
Distinctive brand Zuluflora
Zuluflora is a group of like-minded growers based in South Africa, specializing in the production of Cape Flora and Geraldton Wax. "As growers, we wanted to be more involved in marketing our own product," says Emma. "We are also getting to know our customers and maximizing our revenues by being more involved in the value chain. All of our products are marketed under our distinctive Zuluflora brand."
FreshPortal Software
"As our company began to grow, it became very clear that we needed an ERP system to help develop our business, improve our internal systems and standardize the export process. We met Robin Jongkind at a trade show in Kenya and the fact that FreshPortal Software is cloud-based was very attractive to us. With the growth of our business, we needed to connect our growers and standardize our systems. We have growers on a number of farms in different locations. By using FreshPortal Software, we were able to link and integrate all growers and see our production as one. For our growers, the system is great because it is simple and easy to use. As a business tool, FreshPortal was essential in creating efficiencies and streamlining our processes."
Expanding our capabilities
Zuluflora has multiple growers in different locations and the ability to connect them was a major benefit of using FreshPortal Software. "The growers' production is live in the system and this helps us to aggregate all the information, giving us a holistic view of what the nurseries are producing and what is available. We feel that we are benefiting from the implementation of FreshPortal Software; by improving the efficiency in our processes, we have increased our capabilities. The system has evolved and improved since we started using it. There are constant tweaks and improvements and we think that is important. Our growers work seamlessly with FreshPortal Software because it is easy to use and the output is very valuable."
Flexible and helpful
"We are very different from other users and as such our needs were also very different; FreshPortal has been very accommodating to us and our requirements from the beginning. They were flexible when we needed modifications and were always extremely willing and helpful. The next step in the future is for us to look at using API connections with FreshPortal."
Key varieties
More on the most successful product(s) grown by Zuluflora is that depending on the location of the farm, the main varieties differ, depending on what grows best in that area. "Our two main varieties are Leucospermum and Chamelaucium. Leucospermum is grown in the Cape and the KZN area of South Africa. Chamelaucium is mainly grown north of Cape Town on the west coast of South Africa. We also grow other varieties, including Protea Leucadendron and Serruria Florida (known as Blushing Brides)."
New markets
"To maximize Zuluflora's profitability, we are constantly developing and growing into new markets. Currently we supply products to America, various locations in Europe and the Far East including China, Taiwan and Japan. Zuluflora aims to export 90% of our group production."