Saint-Gobain Cultilene is celebrating its 45th anniversary. To mark this milestone, we’re travelling back in time with various current and former employees. They’ll share their memories and wisdom, as well as their visions for the future. In this edition it’s the turn of Tomasz Badzian, who has been with us since 1999 as Region Business Manager for Central Europe.

“A farmer from the streets of Warsaw” is how Tomasz describes himself. He grew up in the agricultural sector, studied Plant Sciences and spent some time working in Florida. After a job in Poland managing 68 hectares of tomato production, he decided to change direction. That’s when he joined Cultilene – a choice he’s still happy with 25 years later. 

Tomasz connected with Cultilene because the company was looking to enter the Polish market. He says: “Poland is Europe’s second largest country in terms of greenhouse cultivation after the Netherlands. That makes it an attractive country to do business with. What’s more, the factory where Cultilene produces most of its stone wool substrate is located in Castolovice in the Czech Republic. As transport is expensive, it made sense to find customers closer to that location as well.”

Gaining a foothold
From his base in Poland, Tomasz was responsible for Cultilene’s activities in Central and Eastern Europe. That market was still in its infancy in 1999. “When I started developing the Polish market, we had almost nothing here,” he recalls. “It was a big challenge to set up the distribution network and get all the necessary systems in place. Once it was all up and running in Poland, we were able to start gaining a foothold in other countries: from Finland and the Baltic States to Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.”

Tomasz travelled regularly to these countries and has fond memories of those trips. He explains: “All these countries have their own cultures. For example, after a trip to Serbia I tried to pay my bill at the hotel. The receptionist couldn’t find any paperwork. It turned out my contact had already paid for everything – Serbians never let other people pay. In Finland I was taken to the sauna, including a plunge into an ice-cold lake. The Dutch culture, too, was – well, double Dutch to me! But that made working together all the more fun.”

Their own language 
It wasn’t only the cultures but also the customers that were so very different. Again, this was an aspect that Tomasz and his colleagues had to adapt flexibly to. “We had three types of customers: the large companies with more than 100 hectares of greenhouses that had their own helicopters and planes; the family businesses with a few hectares; and the companies that raised the young plants. They all had very different questions and also different ways of communicating. It was our job to advise them in their own language.”

A background in horticulture is indispensable for that. Tomasz continues: “People will only take advice from you if they sense that you know what you’re talking about. Knowledge of the industry is therefore essential. I have amassed a huge amount of knowledge myself in my career. Since last year, I’ve been working on passing it on to the next generation. With this in mind, we have launched the Cultilene University within the company. I hope this will enable me to pass on some of my wisdom to the next generation of advisors.”

For Tomasz, passing on knowledge fits perfectly within the theme of “Fit for the future’.” He says: “At Cultilene, we differentiate ourselves through knowledge. Having that knowledge is becoming increasingly important. The world is changing rapidly. Almost every day, new knowledge emerges and the level we operate on keeps rising. What was important yesterday may not be today. So to stay fit for the future, it’s essential to stay informed. And for me personally, too, so that I can pass on my knowledge to others.”