The history behind Pot Olé

The 80s

The idea blossomed in the US

It was on his return from a stay in the US that the idea of pots and containers first came to Ole Juul Hansen.

The great joy shown by a close friend in flowers had rubbed off on the young Ole Juul. Ten years after returning to Denmark, the dream became a reality.

On 1 September 1985, Ole Juul Hansen had his first day at work at the company “OJ-marketing” in the small, provincial town of Holbæk in Zealand – far from the big US.

Sweden was the company’s home ground

Although the company was based in the heart of Holbæk, Ole Juul travelled extensively around the Nordic region on sales trips and participated at many annual fairs.

Sweden particularly excelled in this department and has been the largest market ever since.

The 90s

New company name – same content

With the same man at the helm, the company changed its name from “OJ-marketing” to “Pot Olé Aps”. Pot Olé Aps stuck, as did Ole Juul, who has been known as Pot Ole ever since. An incredible name, which was an image and advertisement in itself.

The company was characterised by the quality of the goods it sold. The high quality of his products was important to Ole Juul from day one.

The ringing of church bells and the arrival of the stork

In 1993, Ole Juul Hansen married Tine Hansen. Tine has also been at the office for 15 years, where she manages the company’s bookkeeping and accounts.

The couple have two daughters together, having become parents in 1992 and in 1995.

The first local company to import from abroad

With the dream of becoming independent still in its infancy, Ole Juul had already made contact with the French pot company GRANDON.

From there, the foreign contacts rolled in. He attended 14 annual fairs in Scandinavia – his biggest target group.

He also travelled extensively in the rest of the world to buy new goods from the seven suppliers in France, Spain, Greece, Poland and Vietnam. India and the East later came into play.

An extraordinary feel for future trends

Ole Juul Hansen has always been known for being one step ahead – he had an innate ability to sniff out coming trends.

He was completely au fait with the trends of the time and this, coupled with his talent for sales and marketing, put him very much at ease in his role as director of his own company.

The 00s

W.E.T. Watering Easy Trays

Pot Olé had now been selling pots for 35 years. The company developed products and expanded its range in the mid-00s. The pots still formed the foundation of the business, but Ole Juul Hansen developed W.E.T, “Watering easy trays” – watering trays for plants and flowers. This would prove to be a great success for the company and has since provided countless garden centres, nurseries and supermarkets with easy, attractive and environmentally friendly storage of their plants and flowers – and a way to water them.

Generational change

The seeds had been sown for Ole’s daughters to take over his life’s work over many years, and in May 2021, this suddenly became a reality.

Helena Juul Hansen is mindful of the good network and the stable clientèle that has been built up over the years in most of Europe – a collaboration she wishes to continue.

Photo:

Helena Juul, Director.

Handelspladsen plant fair, October 2021.