Mother and son, Oliver Lundager and Olga Lundager, work as partners when, for example, they travel to China to develop and produce their own designs for Gartneriet LUNDAGER’S ceramics department.
Gartneriet LUNDAGER is known for its huge assortment of especially green mini-plants, but also produces plants in slightly larger sizes in 10.5 and 12 cm pots. Products that are typically sold in a ceramic concealer selected for the plant. In the past, the nursery has bought ceramics and other added value products at home from various suppliers at home and abroad, but that is over now. In 2017, Lundager established its own ceramics department with Olga Lundager and her son Oliver Lundager at the helm. The idea is to design and produce the horticulture’s own and unique ceramics at factories in China, among other places. – If we had been able to get the goods we wanted, we would not have gone our own way. But we could not. We asked and asked, but the products we were offered were not newly developed. Often they were taken off the shelves in China and thus also offered to others. That was not what we wanted. That is why we took the step so that we can now offer our customers the news they always demand, Olga Lundager explains about the background for the new, comprehensive set-up.
It’s about image
Gartneriet Lundager collaborates with a whole range of ceramic manufacturers in China, because each factory has its own specialty and its own special techniques. It supports the wide range needed.
– We shape our products from scratch to suit the company’s identity. It is about our image, and it is important, emphasizes Oliver Lundager, who together with Olga Lundager travels to China several times a year to put the Danish horticulture’s fingerprint on the products.
A local agent acts as the nursery’s extended arm and has checks on all phases of production at the individual factories from the start, until the packing lists have been checked and pictures of the shipment have been taken.
Responsible student job
The job in the ceramics department is a student job that Oliver Lundager fits in parallel with his high school education, where he has currently reached 3rd grade, specializing in international trade. An unusual and responsible student job he expects to continue to be able to take care of when he has to continue in the education system after high school.
– We can feel that the presence in China is extremely important. We have deselected many factories and selected them,
who have proper working conditions and produce the quality products we want. And fortunately, there are many incredibly skilled factories in China. Our main supplier produces, for example, in completely new factories, says Oliver Lundager.
– We go for factories that are certified according to the international standard BSCI, which documents that there is control over working conditions, the environment and youth education, adds Olga Lundager.
Only own products in the future
That strategy naturally implies that it is not low-cost products that the horticulture department’s ceramics department goes for, because that is not the idea at all.
– We pay a little more, but it can easily be possible to produce competitive and at the same time good quality
in special designs, states Olga Lundager, who with the new set-up also skips an expensive wholesale link and can therefore also offer good prices to her customers.
She is experiencing an increased turnover rate for ceramics products in her own designs and declares without hesitation that no products will appear in the future.
in Lundager’s comprehensive catalog, which is not of its own design. A look into their showroom, where there is also a large amount of new samples, emphasizes that there is at least enough to take off.
Finger on the pulse
In addition to the trips to China, Olga and Oliver Lundager visit international fairs, trend seminars and housing and design shops in the markets where the plants are sold. On that basis, they develop their own designs in collaboration with the factories.
– The factories have a lot of goods on the shelves. We find some in the right color, and some with the right shape that may just need to be changed a bit. Then we combine them into new products that are not already on the market, but are composed of elements and methods that we know the factories are good at already, Olga Lundager explains.
– When we have so many different designs, it is also connected with the fact that some expressions appeal to some markets and others to others. Strong colors are in demand in Southern Europe and more nature-inspired expressions in Northern Europe. That is why we must have a lot of different things to offer, points out Oliver Lundager and highlights green shades and 60s
style with a modern twist as the hottest trends of the time.
– Our products have a completely different look than before. They have truly become ours. We think we can be proud of that, says Olga Lundager, who experiences that their designs are actually copied.
Copying is a compliment
The copying is a bit annoying, of course, but it is not something that mother and son can let go of.
– Actually, it is a compliment when our design is copied. That means they are good. But we have them first, and even though we probably think a little, invent something ourselves, then we are quickly moving on. In a few months we will have developed something completely new. Right now, we have 100 new designs in the pipeline, they say.
The many designs combined with the horticulture’s huge range means that completely tailor-made solutions can be offered to all customers. Ceramics and concealers can be combined crosswise, and although there are four standard colors of a design, for example, there are also eight other colors to choose from.
Ceramics without plants
Gartneriet Lundager also sells ceramics without plants to, for example, garden centers, where consumers want to combine ceramics and plants themselves. The ceramics are delivered on pallets mixed in clear plastic trays, so they are ready to pack
on the tables in the nursery, where experienced packers handle the large puzzle without any problems.
– We experience that the customers have been happy and that our previous suppliers have been surprised by our new initiatives. I also think it has opened some eyes. If you can’t get what you want, you have to get started. In each case, it is our motto, states Olga Lundager
The ceramics are delivered mixed in clear plastic trays that are ready to pack on the nursery’s tables for the experienced packaging staff – such as Kateryna Zatvorna – and then present the products nicely.
