Hops-timistic about the future

As we know, flowers and chocolates complement one another so well that their point of sale is often found side by side in key retail positions. Indeed, the confectionary and horticulture sectors share many similarities. The products bring rewarding cheer to people's lives. With this point in mind, it makes sense that those who work in floriculture might also work in the confectionery business at some point in their career. But it is doubtful that many people's CVs are quite as unique as Richard Petri's.

Helping European breeders to develop mother stock

The founder of the Germany-based communications and sales agency RiPlant, Petri studied horticulture but, by chance, spent a decade during the early part of his career working in marketing for Mars.

"The training was unbelievable. Never in my life have I had such opportunities to learn. I was taught, for example, that my job was not to tell people what to do, but to motivate them to do it for themselves. And I also discovered that, as a manager, you must appraise yourself and ask your staff members to give feedback on your performance. And that is what I did in Africa. You employ people, you train them, you motivate them, and you build an organisation."

Petri left Mars to return to horticulture - moving to Africa to help European breeders develop their mother stock. This time in his career included some four years working as general manager for Selecta's production site in Uganda.

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Photo Courtesy of AIPH

Source: AIPH