- English
The recently acquired dealership for greenhouse builder Rovero will help Tongeren-based Belgian supplier Schoubs realize its growth ambitions faster. That is the belief of Dirk Adriaensen and Ann Pluym, the couple who took over Schoubs in 2020. “Rovero is an innovative and successful manufacturer of high-quality film greenhouses, fruit canopies and foils. We are at home in Belgian and northern French horticulture. Together we can help growers and other green professionals in our service area achieve better results.”
Schoubs has been in business for 35 years as a producer and supplier of tunnel greenhouses, foils, irrigation equipment and other growing supplies. It was taken over five years ago by Dirk Adriaensen and Ann Pluym.
“We look back on the past five years with satisfaction,” Pluym says. “We have become familiar with the customer base and the broader market. Until now, our focus has been on strawberry planting material, tunnel greenhouses, foils and irrigation, especially for the small fruit crop in which we have a strong position.”
This year, Schoubs plans to put more emphasis on selling greenhouses and films for new construction and renovation. “Now that we represent Rovero as an official dealer, we see many new growth opportunities in this,” Pluym states. “Not only for ourselves, but also for Rovero, which is less known in Belgium and northern France than in other countries.”
Driven entrepreneurs
“We are very happy to have Schoubs as a dealer,” responded Rovero’s managing director Jacco van Delden. “Ann and Dirk are very driven to further professionalize their business and achieve growth. That is exactly what we ourselves stand for. In recent years, Rovero has worked very hard on product innovation and strengthening its international dealer network. Dealers and customers are already making good use of the webshop launched in 2023. It had not yet come to attracting a dealer in Belgium, but Ann and Dirk have now taken care of that themselves.”
Van Delden calls it a happy coincidence that Schoubs approached him shortly after Rovero’s distributor in France died and the company was no longer adequately represented there. “That white spot is now colored in. We used to serve Belgium from the Netherlands, but that was not ideal. You do notice then that there is a language and culture gap that makes doing business a bit difficult.”
Step forward in supply and quality
There is no such gap in the contacts with the Adriaensen-Pluym couple. “It clicked from the very first conversation,” Pluym confirms. “Rovero is a lot bigger than us, but has all the characteristics of a well-organized and honest family business. What really appeals to us is that with the products and support from Raamsdonksveer we can take a big step forward in supply, quality and professionalism. We complement each other perfectly. This allows us to provide customized services to more growers and green professionals such as garden centers.”
Rovero’s greenhouses and films are in higher quality segments, and there is a great need for precisely that, Pluym said. “Among other things, I am thinking of the AirVent concept for soft fruit. The yields and fruit quality that can be realized in it will appeal greatly to Belgian and French growers. They may need some time to embrace such innovations, but eventually they will. We know them well enough for that.”
