Our history - Perfect Plant Deal

2008

2008 Start selling plants to consumers

In 2008 Franck (then 22 years old) and Enya (then 19 years old) set up their first company. A company focused on selling trees and plants to consumers. The plants they sold were immediately purchased from Franck's father's nursery. Because a large part of the trees and plants came from Italy, De Italiaanse Oase (Italian Oasis) was used as the company name. Franck, then still working at the nursery in Bleiswijk, noticed that more and more consumers in the surrounding area were interested in the special trees and plants they traded in the nursery. Where "De Italiaanse Oase" first only sold the plants at local weekly markets, an new and online sales channel was sought during the year. At the time, it was still a challenge to find the right plants online and by making smart use of Marktplaats, among others, part of the range could be offered online. These online orders were packed during the week after working hours and then neatly delivered to the local post office. Because more and more parcels were slowly being sent, they decided to have a website built for "De Italiaanse Oase".

2009-2012

De Italiaanse Oase - Creation of the first website

In the years that followed, the amount of online orders increased and an arrangement could be made with a good parcel carrier to collect all orders from the nursery once a week. The orders were shipped to consumers throughout the Netherlands. The website of De Italiaanse Oase was being found more and more, but the demand for really large trees also increased. These types of large trees (300+ kg) could not be sent by post and in order to meet this demand Enya and Franck decided to also sell the sale directly from the nursery. The weekly private Saturday sale was born. During the spring and summer, consumers could visit the nursery in Bleiswijk every Saturday afternoon to buy trees and plants fresh from the greenhouse. Online sales gradually increased and orders were also shipped to Belgium.

2012-2013

Sell plants online through other websites - 5.000 packages per year

The success of the private sale from the nursery made it clear that there was sufficient demand for Italian trees and plants, but online sales did not seem to grow further. In order to sell more, it was decided to approach various online platforms to see if these websites were interested in special plant promotions. After all, they had a huge customer base, but no supplier who could package and ship live plants straight from the nursery.
It turned out to have been a smart move. Numbers quickly increased and the first part-time and temporary workers were hired to help pack all orders. It got so busy that Franck quit his job at the nursery in 2012 to continue on his own.

2014

The start of Perfect plant Deal - 18.500 packages per year

Establishment of Perfect Plant Deal. After the first successful campaigns with various web shops and promotional sites in the Netherlands and Belgium, a serious request came in from France. The first major foreign website presented a number of challenges. For example, the plants had to be delivered directly from the nursery to the French consumer. And preferably within 48 hours. Fortunately, a unique business method was quickly found for this and one challenge remained; the international name A Dutch name like De Italiaanse Oase, which was not well understood in France. There had to be an international name that was clear to everyone. It became a Perfect Plant Deal.

2015

Expansion International market – 35.000 parcels per year

Online sales are growing fast and the French market seems huge. The theory that the online sale of plants can only be successful at a very competitive price appears to be correct. Here and there different and ingenious ways are being found to package and ship high quality plants for the best possible price. Due to the success that Perfect Plant Deal achieved in France, they were approached by the first major customer in Germany in 2015. A market that could be as big as France. But applications also continued to arrive in the Netherlands. Because Perfect Plant Deal still operated from Franck's father's nursery, lack of space became the first "hurdle" to overcome. The business space in Bleiswijk was actually too small for just the nursery itself and could therefore hardly accommodate 2 companies.

2016

European expansion – 84.500 parcels per year

The space in Bleiswijk appeared to be running out at the beginning of 2016. Especially thanks to all the help that was offered from the nursery, Perfect Plant Deal could continue to run for another year. Longer days were made and the weekends were also used to be able to send the packages. After the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, Perfect Plant Deal now also collaborates with websites in England and Denmark. Processing all orders started to become a full-time job, which is why Enya decided to join the business in 2016 as well.

2017

Relocation and first milestone – 149.950 parcels per year

At the beginning of 2017, the space really became too small at the current location. Perfect Plant Deal had to move and fortunately quickly found accommodation with another supplier who could still free up space in Bleiswijk. The move had to be done in 1 day in order not to waste time. . Thanks to the new space, the workforce could also be expanded to include students and part-time order pickers. Sweden and Finland also became fixed sales channels from that year on. In the Netherlands, the customer base has also been further expanded with, among other things, the shops of media companies. The first real milestone was reached in August 2017 with the 100.000th parcel shipped that year.

2018

Second move – 215.550 parcels per year

Because the new Distribution location was unheated and the roof turned out not to be waterproof, the company had to move for a second time. This had to be done immediately at the beginning of 2018. This time to an own location. It became Kwartsweg 50 in Bleiswijk, between the two largest plant trade centers of Holland and in the “Green Heart” of Holland. . A beautiful hall of 1000m2 with 250m2 of office space offered opportunities to further expand the workforce. Meanwhile, 4 full-timers, 5 part-timers and more than 15 temporary workers work daily to process all orders on time. Also in 2018, the customer base expanded and Perfect Plant Deal also supplies consumers in Italy and Spain. The next milestone of 200.000 packages was reached in October.

2019

PPD Keeps growing - 375.000 packages

Perfect Plant Deal is growing like never before and during the spring a considerable burden is placed on the entire workforce. On the busiest day 6500 orders are sent, 3 and a half truck trailer full of packages with plants. The growth continues and in October the 300,000th order of 2019 was reached. By the end of 2019 over 1.2 million plants were packaged and shipped.