Carolin Melle – Entrepreneur of the Year 2023

From a difficult life situation, Melle, who was still growing up herself, developed a successful business and made a conscious decision to pursue a career as an entrepreneur. In her overall personality, Carolin Melle can therefore be a role model for many young people to take on responsibility at an early age and decide to become self-employed in the green sector. But who is the 33-year-old entrepreneur from Ganderkesee in northern Germany?

Where quantity meets quality
In 2011, Carolin Melle unexpectedly took over the Melle nursery, a production company for callunas and summer flowers, from her late father. At the time, she was just 20 years old and studying International Business Administration in her first year. Apart from an internship at Landgard and vacation jobs on her father’s farm, the young woman had no experience in horticulture and her original plan was to work in other sectors abroad for a few years after graduating. However, due to changes in her life circumstances, Melle decided to interrupt her studies and continue running the family business.

With the active support of all her employees, Melle was able to gradually familiarize herself with the entrepreneurial activities and even resume her studies after six months – in the meantime, she continued to run the business remotely. In 2015, with a successful degree in her pocket, Carolin Melle joined the company full-time.

Since then, the young entrepreneur has expanded the wholesale products, gained many national and international customers and increased the size of the business by 20 percent – to no less than 20 hectares. But Melle was also able to impress across the board in terms of quality: the horticultural company has become a driver of innovation for the Gardengirls brand. Popular calluna concepts such as Twister, Sunset Twister and Up Down Girl all originate from the Melle forge.

Sustainably better
In her plant production, Carolin Melle has been committed to sustainable, resource-conserving management from the very beginning. With success: the Melle nursery is both Global Gap Grasp and MPS certified and is one of the few companies specializing in callunas that has been able to completely dispense with peat – back in 2014, when many people were not even aware of this issue. Melle currently uses a peat-reduced substrate for its production because it requires less water, fertilizer and plant protection than completely peat-free substrate alternatives.

Thanks to the expansion of renewable energies, the constant testing of new substrates and alternative fertilizers and pesticides, the nursery aims to maintain and further develop its high sustainability standards. Carolin Melle has also expanded the summer flower business to private customers over the past twelve years: The two-monthly plant sale in the middle of a production nursery is unique in the region and customers actually buy the plants where they grow and thrive.

A new generation of female entrepreneurs
Operating sales have doubled since 2011 – partly thanks to active multichannel marketing and a broader product range, but above all thanks to consistent product quality. However, the clearest indicator of the company’s success is its loyal regular customers, who have appreciated the diverse product range for over 75 years. According to a recent survey, Melle customers are particularly impressed by the excellent quality of the plants, the first-class service, the friendliness of the entire team and a shopping experience far removed from the traditional garden center shopping experience. The shopping experience is rounded off by a delivery and planting service – and no customer has to lift heavy soil into their car themselves. When it suits, Carolin Melle and her team also organize events that attract young families with children to the nursery. Precisely because private sales only take place for two months of the year, all employees are passionate about their work, which leads to deep regional roots and a wide reach.

Carolin Melle made productive use of the coronavirus pandemic, a difficult time for all businesses, to set up an online store that guaranteed customers a safe shopping experience and also gave the nursery a secure foothold.

On the whole, Carolin Melle represents a new generation of female horticultural entrepreneurs who are courageous and have an excellent education. A generation that lives both teamwork and customer orientation with full conviction and is also involved in cooperative ventures to actively promote the green sector.