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What started as a step towards more overview and speed has now become an integral part of the daily workflow. For Florian Hildebrand, buyer at the German family business Hegemann, Floriday is indispensable: “Every day starts with Floriday for me. I take a quick look: what’s available, what’s new, which offers are out there?”
From family business to modern flower and plant specialist
Hegemann is a fourth-generation family business based in southern Germany near Stuttgart. The company supplies cut flowers, indoor and garden plants, as well as its own floral arrangements to around 150 supermarkets - mainly Edeka and Rewe. Hegemann manages the entire chain: from assortment composition and delivery to presentation, care and returns in-store. Florian explains: “We take on the risk, but this allows us to completely relieve our customers — the supermarket owners — and help them increase their turnover.”
Digitalisation is in the company’s DNA
Since December 2023, Florian has been responsible for purchasing, assortment building and availability at Hegemann, working closely with sales and florists. Digitalisation at Hegemann already started in the 1990s, with the digitisation of processes such as delivery notes and returns. The company was also involved in FloraXchange from an early stage. Today, Florian works daily in Floriday to purchase directly from growers: “Floriday is basically a huge digital marketplace. Like Amazon: you see what’s available, what it costs, and you order with just a few clicks.”
“Before Floriday, international purchasing required a lot of manual coordination,” Florian explains. “We worked with a small number of exporters, communication was mainly by phone, and getting information quickly was not always easy. FloraXchange helped to create more overview, but with Floriday the process really accelerated. Almost all relevant information is available immediately, and we can place orders directly.”
Working with Floriday on a daily basis
Florian starts his working day by checking the Floriday homepage: “There I can see what’s on offer. Growers indicate which products are available now or will become available soon, and whether there are any special promotions. That’s always useful information.”
Every Tuesday, Florian has an assortment meeting with colleagues to decide on plans for the coming weeks. “After that, I go to Floriday to browse the growers’ stores or search via the Explorer. When I find products in the Explorer that I think are interesting - they fit the season, they’re flowering - but there’s no price listed, I submit a supply request to the grower. We usually search product‑driven first and then start building the relationship with the grower.”
With a supply request, buyers can ask growers for information about a product, its availability and pricing at a specific moment. “Quite often you get a quick response. In the past, before we used supply requests in Floriday, we relied on email and some growers simply wouldn’t reply. Using requests in Floriday has really improved that.” Florian uses both supply requests and order requests. Approved order requests automatically turn into confirmed orders.
Floriday makes international trading easier
According to Florian, this is where Floriday’s real strength lies: “With order requests, you have direct contact with the grower. Approval or rejection is immediately clear to everyone, language is hardly an issue.” He also sees a clear opportunity for improvement: “If an order request is rejected, it’s extremely valuable when the grower briefly explains why in the comments field. That allows us to act immediately.”
In 2025, Hegemann also purchased roses via Floriday directly from growers in Kenya: “That worked really well. We were able to source special roses that you might not get through other channels, and we could share freight with other buyers.” Due to political unrest in the Middle East and unpredictable transport costs, this is temporarily on hold. “We hope to resume this soon, because they are truly stunning roses. It’s a fantastic way to offer something unique.”
How Floriday supports Hegemann
Asked about the benefits of working with Floriday, Florian is very clear: “Basically, it’s just very fast. It’s up to date. You get immediate feedback: order successful, order not successful. That gives you very concrete and reliable information.” He continues: “When I place an order, it’s done relatively quickly. It’s just a few clicks: log in, select grower, quantity, buy, confirmation email - and that’s it, the goods arrive. It’s super simple, straightforward and fast. It saves us a lot of time and stress.”
Looking ahead: smarter and more digital
Florian sees digitalisation and AI as essential for the future of the sector: “The world is moving so fast, and there are so many simple things that a computer can do better and faster than humans. As a company, you have to keep up — whether you’re in floriculture or not. To save time, deliver quickly and keep costs under control, without compromising on quality.
His ideal scenario? “That I could say to Floriday: show me all green plants in 9 cm pots, delivered to Herongen on 24 April, sorted by price — and instantly get an overview. Right now, I sometimes spend a lot of time setting filters, sorting and tagging interesting growers. It would be great if Floriday could automate that in the future.”
A call to growers
Finally, Florian has a clear message for growers: “Use Floriday actively. Respond to supply requests and order requests. It allows the entire sector to communicate with each other easily and quickly, across borders and languages. It makes collaboration faster, clearer and more international.”