On New Year's Eve I was restless. I kept on 'putting the facts in a row', as we say in Dutch. In 2006, when I set off on my TRUE. quest, there were two criticisms: (1) we would never be able to produce the specific rose variety and (2) the consumer would never pay a premium price for the flower. Today, the variety works and the consumer is positive. The only problem is that we have been hit head-on by the financial crisis and everybody is scared shitless (excuse my diction).
All this time, I have been rowing against the traditional flow of the flower industry. Why not also do that in the last step of the supply chain by either taking control of the retail part as well, or finding a very untraditional outlet for the product?
On New Year's Day I went for a long post-champagne and 'oliebollen' walk with my friend Peter. We sparred all our way through the crispy Dutch polders, giving more direction to my thoughts. Thanks Peter.
Today I set to work, my spirits rekindled, my iPod playing Gnarls Barkley full blast. With a shock I realized that the song that caught me a week earlier could not have been a coincidence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN020WCM61w
I looked up the lyrics to make sure that I understood correctly. I did.
