Yesterday we celebrated the 40th working anniversary of our breeder Wim Declercq. Day to day 40 years ago he started his career at Gediflora and that is why he was honored yesterday.

On Monday, January 4, 1982, Wim Declercq started his career at Gediflora, then still Georges Pieters and son, as a picker. After two years of picking cuttings, Wim got the chance to help with the packing and shipping process of those cuttings. For several years he combined this task with picking cuttings. In the greenhouse, Wim was given more and more responsibilities. This gave him control over the mother plants, which were then still in Oostnieuwkerke itself. He also became a planner. He decided which cuttings should be planted where and when as mother plants, and the control of these mother plants also fell to him. In 1987 Dirk Pieters started breeding his own chrysanthemum varieties. The person responsible for the breeding failed after a few months, and so Wim's career as a breeder was also a fact. Since the end of the 1990s, Wim has been working full-time on the breeding of Belgian Mums and can also call himself head breeder at Gediflora.  Thanks to his expertise over the years, Wim also became closely involved in the production sites that were set up in Brazil, the US and Kenya. Thanks to the knowledge of the mother plants he still has from the beginning of his career, he also acts as an advisor at these production sites.

The day started yesterday with a nice breakfast and a touch of music thanks to an accordionist. Elien Pieters, current manager of Gediflora, wrote a personalized song and it was dedicated to Wim to thank him for 40 years of dedication. Elien: “He is not only a loyal employee you can always count on, he is also my professional right hand.” The day ended with an aperitif. The colleagues and Elien warmly congratulated Wim and hope that Wim will remain active in the company for a long time to come. According to Wim, what is the key to being a good breeder? Wim: “To be a good breeder you have to have a passion for your job and be a little crazy.”