ZC’s portfolio contains everything a gardener needs. In Czechia, they’re the largest distributor of garden supplies on the independent market (excluding franchise gardening centres and similar Home & Garden stores), supplying goods to 2,500 stores in Czechia and Slovakia.
Their daughter company ZC retail s. r. o. manages two large garden centres of their own, each with a restaurant and a café.
When ZC started out, they had various suppliers of nonwoven fabrics. “Twenty years ago, Mr. Polouček from Milmar offered us a complete product line — neatly packed and looking really good on the shelves,” reminisces Petr Hembera, the owner and Managing Director of ZC s. r. o.
It was a deal! At first, ZC would get mostly gardening nonwovens from us. Over the years, our partnership grew to today’s large extent. Nowadays, we supply a massive variety of products to ZC. To name a few:
Top-notch Quality
Ten years ago, ZC launched their own brand called Rosteto (in Czech, “Roste To” means “It’s Growing”).
“When reselling products in our gardening centre, the items were of varying quality. Even when the items were of the same brand and label! We came up with the Rosteto brand because we wanted to provide goods of high quality to our customers — and to do so consistently,” explains Petr Hembera.
By that time, the ZC & Milmar collab had been in full swing for a while, with people at ZC being highly satisfied with our products. So we were naturally their first choice when they started looking for a supplier for their newly born Rosteto brand. ZC provided label design for us, we had the labels printed, and have been labelling our products with Rosteto labels ever since.
The Rosteto brand on nonwovens by Milmar.
Timely Deliveries: Covid Restrictions Notwithstanding
ZC & Milmar partnership dates back to 20 years ago. “Milmar products are always high-quality, and the same can be said about their packaging. I very much appreciate their exceptional client approach and unmatched reliability,” adds Petr Hembera.
Contrary to many other nonwovens & plastic mesh suppliers, we always keep a large stock of products at Milmar. That saved us during the Covid restrictions when a majority of supplier chains were disrupted and most businesses were unable to supply the ordered goods.
“Every once in a while, sales reps approach me, offering us nonwovens a few cents cheaper. That doesn’t interest me. Price is not such a priority for me. I have no reason to leave Milmar whatsoever,” says Petr Hembera.
ZC runs two large gardening centres in the Czech Republic. Source: zcjh.cz
Invoice Due Dates Pushes Back
Business in the gardening segment is strongly seasonal. ZC often places their first orders in autumn to make sure that in spring, they’ll be able to serve their 2,500 B2B clients in time.
“Milmar is kind to extend invoice due dates for orders for the upcoming season. This practice is beneficial not only for us but also for our clients. They can stock up on seasonal goods in January and pay later in spring, after they sell the goods,” describes Petr Hembera.
High Stock Even Mid-Season
ZC keeps track of their sales long-term, and calculates their orders according to their statistics. “Thanks to this practice, we rarely run out of goods during the season. If by chance we do, Milmar flexibly supplies the missing products in just a few days,” points out Petr Hembera.
The ZC & Milmar process usually looks like this: ZC sends us their order on a Thursday and picks it up the following Tuesday. For orders out of stock at the time of placing the order, the delivery takes 7–10 days.
Always in the Loop
At Milmar, we’re delighted to have watched ZC grow throughout the years. “Milmar has managed to grow with us. And they always keep on innovating their manufacturing and other processes,” appreciates Petr Hembera.
Do you want to grow like ZC? Get in touch and let us know what you’re looking for, product- and packaging-wise. We’ll gladly provide samples for you.
Here’s more on what it’s like to work with us.