Topbloemen.nl is part of Topgeschenken.nl, and also supplies gifts, cakes and fruit baskets. The webshop wants to take control of the logistics itself and will set up the logistics in-house from nine own regional distribution centers to be opened this year. Furthermore, as of January 1, 2025, the previously agreed purchasing benefits, including a gross margin guarantee of 50% and an order contribution of two euros, will cease according to Topbloemen.
The VBW sector organization reports that considerable unrest has arisen among the florists involved who are affected by this. VBW therefore organized two meetings in collaboration with Plantion, on June 12 and 26, where the situation surrounding Topflowers was central. Many florists told their story and each other's insights were shared. Individual entrepreneurial suffering, poignant stories, disbelief and dismay predominated. In the meantime, VBW has attempted to reach a further agreement with Topflowers. Unfortunately, this consultation did not produce the intended result, making legal action unavoidable.
In the meantime, VBW has started preliminary relief proceedings against Topbloemen regarding the termination of the collaboration between Topbloemen and florists. This has now taken place on August 23 at 10 a.m. at the Haarlem court. The aim of these preliminary relief proceedings was threefold: Lifting the exclusive collaboration with Topbloemen until the end of the contract term; Order guarantee until the end of the contract term of 80% of the orders of the past twelve months; Maintaining margin guarantee of 50% and other agreed purchase benefits. In order to then also be able to conduct a procedure for damages compensation.
VBW still hopes that consultation with Topbloemen will yield a suitable result. At the time of printing this edition of DPK Floral Magazine, the outcome of the summary proceedings was not yet known.
