A FAMILY ENTERPRISE

Florentaise is now run by the third generation of the Chupin family, who created the SME in 1973. It is this deep-rooted and family-based entrepreneurial spirit that provides our teams with a sense of togetherness and solidarity to this day.

REWARDING

Choosing to work at Florentaise also means choosing to work for a company that respects the environment and values its employees.

As an international company operation across multiple locations, we are constantly evolving to make progress and widen our scope of action. Fully aware that our employees and their expertise are our greatest resource, we have ensured that their well-being is a key feature of our strategy. We want each and every one of our employees to have a sense of fulfilment in their work and to feel valued and listened to.

INNOVATIVE

For over 20 years, our company has been recognized as an innovative SME that is committed to sustainable development. We strive to create and market products that are ever more effective and environmentally friendly. Innovation is the essence of everyone to have an input. Those joining our teams soon realize that we make it a point of honour to stand out from our competitors through our innovative ideas, which we hope will revolutionize the plant world.

"Five years ago, 40% of what we are doing today did not even exist. Let's just try to think what that 40% of our business - that we haven't even imagined yet - might look like 5 years from now !

RESPONSIBLE

Our adventure began following a ban on sand extraction in the Loire river, which led us to discover peat and to launch our activity producing growing media. However, we have to anticipate for the future. Peat is not a renewable raw materials, so we decided to take the lead and find locally-available and renewable susbtitutes. As a truly responsible company we do not simply think about the "product". We also take the environment into consideration. This is why, for the past 20 years, Florentaise has been implementing practical solutions every year to reduce its impact on and protect our planet.

 

FLORENTAISE is committed to continuous improvement and to developing professionalism at all levels within the company, be it at production level, via batch control and certification (six ISO 9001 factories) or in supply management, by setting up a more centralised purchasing process.

We have also implemented further measures to promote continuous improvement.

• In 2017, we sent out a satisfaction survey to our main customers and prospects within the sector. The feedback we received was very encouraging and highlighted our strengths:
  • Reliability and conscientiousness
  • Adaptability, availability and responsiveness
  • Innovation and environmental protection

 

This strategy allows us to maintain an excellent on-time delivery—of over 95%—and to increase profitability.

Even if there is still room for improvement, this nevertheless shows that good customer relations are our main asset!

Each year, we invite our customers to come and visit one of our production sites and participate in our ecoinnovation process. These encounters provide the opportunity for privileged exchange with these customers and help us to gain a better understanding of their needs and expectations so that we may move forward together in harmony.

 

 

 

We are actively committed to improving the local economy through our work with outside partners. Following 13 years of involvement with the CJD (centre for young business leaders), FLORENTAISE joined IDEA in 2009 and the Dirigeant Responsable de l’Ouest association in 2010.  The aim of these associations is to encourage companies to implement the principles of responsible management.

Florentaise is also a member of the French quality association MFQ’s internal cross-audit club. Conducting cross-audits with companies from different sectors but with similar problems offers companies a fresh perspective on their activity and helps to improve performance.

In 2016, for the launch of our ready-to-use JARD’IN pots, we entrusted the assembly of the products to various sheltered workshops in the department of Loire-Atlantique.

Finally, every year Florentaise participates in various regional and national events by donating soil mixes and mulches to help with urban revegetation projects and to raise awareness about the importance of vegetation. Our recent partnerships are shown below.

 

 

As a further component of our CSR policy, we strive to optimise safety and the working conditions of our personnel, improve their range of skills and encourage promotion within the company.

 

In 2014, we considered introducing a “well-being score” to evaluate job satisfaction among our staff at Florentaise and Terreaux Armoricains, and carried out a survey to this end. We received a great deal of feedback, with a response rate of 88% and an average score of 6.8/10, compared to 6.8/10 in 2014. Despite a generally positive result, the particular interest of this survey proved to be in highlighting the main expectations to be met in order to improve on this social satisfaction score. In 2015, the first measures were implemented to remedy the various problems. Examples include :

• Launch of the project to revise our salary policy
• Investment in the production tool in France, with annual investment plan and annual communication of this plan to employees
• Investment in work tools to improve their ergonomics and the well-being of employees (+ hiring of an ergonomics apprentice)
• Distribution of the general organization chart
• Implementation of co-option
• Launch of the study for the renovation of changing rooms and common areas in our factories
• Continue the actions of team cohesion, the moments of exchanges and sharing within the factories and between them