For over fifty years, FM Group has been a driving force in the international flower trade, evolving from a pioneering venture into a global leader in floristry. Rooted in the expertise of visionary entrepreneurs, the company has expanded across Europe and North America, continually adapting to market demands through innovation, strategic mergers, and a commitment to excellence. From its early beginnings in the Netherlands to its current position as a leading floral network, FM Group remains dedicated to connecting growers, florists, and retailers worldwide.
The foundation for FM Group was laid by several remarkable pioneers in the Dutch flower trade.
At the end of the 1960s, Ton Zonneveld and the brothers Jan and Co Berkhout started the Berkhout-Zonneveld flower trading company at the Beverwijk Auction, exporting products to wholesale customers in Bremen and Hamburg. In the mid-1970s, the growing company – which had been renamed Fleura by then – relocated to Aalsmeer. In 1978, the first cash-and-carry was opened in Hanover under the leadership of Hein Kalter, under the name H.B.I. (Holland Blumen Import). The company’s turnover and the number of H.B.I. branches in Germany grew steadily under the leadership of Co Berkhout (who managed the Dutch company Fleura) and Hein (who stood at the helm of H.B.I.).
At the end of the 1970s, Gerard Metz started supplying cut flowers to flower shops in Antwerp, operating from what was then the Westland Flower Auction. However, when trade in Antwerp became more difficult in the mid-1980s he trained his gaze on Paris instead, where he supplied cut flowers and potted plants directly to florists without the intervention of local wholesalers.
In the 1990s and the first years after the turn of the century, growth accelerated under the leadership of a new generation of entrepreneurs.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Frank Koenen took over the baton from Gerard Metz and became the new owner. The territory was extended to the whole of France and expanded with new countries, either through independent efforts or acquisitions. All major European markets were consistently served by the Metz Group through the ‘Direct concept’, which resulted in continuous growth. The introduction of the internet around the turn of the century and Metz’s ability to combine the first successful internet ordering system (‘Iris’) with direct purchasing from regular growers accelerated the growth of the company. In 2003 Martin Vered joined the company and Metz started building up a leading market position on the North American market.
The Fleura/H.B.I. combination, with the arrival of Robert Kalter as the new owner, also embarked on a period of long-term growth at the end of the 1990s. Kalter reinforced his team with Casper de Groot and Gerko Schortemeijer. The cash-and-carry concept was further rolled out throughout Germany, giving Fleura/H.B.I. a market leadership position in this country. Additionally, a great deal of effort was put into another successful sales concept: the sales tour. A leading market position was soon achieved through the acquisition of cash-and-carry companies in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Fleura was able to independently achieve this in Austria as well. In addition to trading flowers through the two floristry concepts, Fleura continued to focus on supplying wholesalers in Europe engaged in the import of flowers.
On 3 July 2009, Fleura and Metz merged, enabling these two powerful companies to further strengthen the market position of the specialist trade in Europe and North America. The FleuraMetz merger became the FM Group in 2020: a network that efficiently and innovatively connects many thousands of producers, florists, importers, exporters, garden centres, retailers and e-tailers.
In 2007 Fleura and Metz launched the purchasing combination MFI (Metz Fleura International) with the aim of maximising economies of scale in the import trade. There was an exceptional rapport between the managements of Fleura and Metz from the very beginning, and soon the first successes in the area of import were jointly achieved. Their shared vision of the future, similar corporate culture and complementarity in markets and sales concepts were sufficient reasons to enter into dialogue with each other. This led to a merger between Fleura and Metz on 3 July 2009.
The merged company FleuraMetz believed from the onset that identifying and capitalising on economies of scale in sourcing, information technology, finance, human resources, logistics and marketing is of paramount importance to business success. After setting up the integrated organisation that was needed for this purpose in the mid-2010s, the company entered a new growth spurt. Other companies in the same line of business were attracted to FleuraMetz’s corporate culture and strength. As a result, renowned businesses such as Kurt Schrama, Baltus, Holland Indoor Plants, DGI and Florahuis joined what – partly for that reason – has been called FM Group since mid-2020. After the Verdel Group joined in 2021, Hilverda De Boer and Cloet N.V. joined FM Group in 2022.
FM Group employs 2,300 people worldwide. Annual turnover in 2022 will be around EUR 800 million.
