Member in Focus: Gärtnerei Wolter
Babenhausen, Deutschland
Gärtnerei Wolter produces high-quality plants for specialist retailers, garden centers, and cemetery nurseries, as well as for cemetery gardeners in multi-cell trays. A large proportion of the production is carried out based on advance orders. The delivery area mainly covers the Rhine-Main region and extends up to 200 km around the business.
Gärtnerei Wolter at a Glance
To us, our members are more than just numbers and facts.
Gärtnerei Wolter was founded in 1968 as a cut-flower business with 1,200 m² of greenhouse space. Since then, the company has developed into a dedicated potted-plant nursery with 23,300 m² of greenhouse space and a total area of 6.9 hectares. Today, large quantities of violas are produced, along with a wide range of bedding plants.
Babenhausen
Deutschland
Questions for getting to know each other.
What matters to our members matters to us, too.
Ute Gorges
Gärtnerei Wolter
1. What are your functions and responsibilities, and how long have you been doing this job?
After completing horticultural training and working in the family business, we took over the operation in 1999. Over the years, the business has grown, and an increasingly clear division of labor has developed. Jörg Wolter is responsible for production and technical operations, while Ute Gorges handles purchasing, sales, and all general office tasks.
2. In your view, what makes your company special?
Our aim is to produce high-quality plants for specialist retailers and industry colleagues. During cultivation, we prioritize producing sturdy, compact, and well-nourished plants so that end customers can enjoy them for a long time and are happy to return to the same shop. We produce the majority of our violas in pots based on pre-orders, though we also offer them in multi-cell trays for cemetery gardeners—a choice that benefits both ease of handling and the environment. For bedding plants, too, we produce special varieties or use colorful pots upon customer request, and we take pride in the fact that we have maintained partnerships with many clients for decades. We hope to be regarded by our customers as a reliable partner.
3. What challenges are you currently facing in your daily life?
We are currently in a period of significant change, and society faces major challenges. For our business, this is particularly evident in the need to adapt production processes to climate change and to meet heightened requirements regarding environmental protection and sustainability. Rising costs across the board confront us with the task of striking the right balance between profitability and customer retention. Excessive bureaucracy ties up a great deal of manpower that could be put to more productive use elsewhere.
4. Has your company ever experienced a loss event, and if so, what did it entail?
In the summer of 1982, we suffered extensive hail damage. Our outdoor Azerca crops were completely destroyed, and a large portion of the glasshouse glazing was shattered. Without hail insurance, the business would not have survived the loss. Assessors promptly conducted a thorough and professional evaluation of the damage, and we received assistance quickly. Fellow growers from the local area also came to help us clear away the broken glass.
Apart from that, we experienced a few minor incidents, all of which were handled and settled promptly and smoothly.
5. How have you found the support and service provided by Gartenbau-Versicherung so far?
Gartenbau-Versicherung is structured and oriented as a mutual insurance association. This spirit can be felt and is reflected in the way it operates. It is reassuring to have an insurance provider of this quality at your side for something so vital to your business. We see that Gartenbau-Versicherung is constantly adapting and evolving. We also view its expansion from an originally German insurance provider into an insurance company operating across Europe as a necessary response to the increased risks posed by climate change.
6. What would you like to see from Gartenbau-Versicherung?
We hope that Gartenbau-Versicherung will continue to keep the grower at the heart of its business and remain forward-looking, maintain a good balance between adequate insurance coverage and costs, and identify and take into account emerging risks.
