Who knows the fruity Frieda?

World of tomatoes

The fruity Frieda is only one tomato varieties that the family business Zeiler, based in Lower Austria, farms and markets year-round. Efficient processes are always key, which is why the company recently introduced EDI.

Welcome to Tomatodise! This is how the horticulture business Zeiler, located in Münchendorf near Vienna, greets visitors on its website. And there is some truth to that: the variety of available products, ranging from the crispy Kathi and the fruity Frieda, is nothing short of a tomato lover’s paradise! Tomato enthusiasts also appreciate the fact that Zeiler tomatoes are available year-round because they are grown in energy-efficient greenhouses. “We provide consistent premium quality in any season,” said Thomas Zopf, one of the sales managers at Zeiler.

Efficient processes

One thing that has changed at Zeiler since it was founded 30 years ago is that the family-run nursery has evolved into an international company with subsidiaries in Austria and Hungary. “Because of our international presence, streamlined and efficient processes for managing our merchandise have become a priority for us.” This is probably another reason why Zeiler decided to take another significant step towards digitalization earlier this year: since the beginning of this year, all business communication with HOFER KG has been handled exclusively via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – from orders (ORDERS) to delivery data (DESADV) and invoicing (INVOIC). “Which is how things come full circle,” Mr. Zeiler said. This first “EDI step” was implemented by EDITEL in just one month in collaboration with ActiveIT, the provider of the existing ERP system.

Zeiler’s first takeaway about EDI transactions with HOFER KG, which have been up and running for several months, is very positive: “The processing quality and efficiency of our processes have increased significantly, which eliminates mistakes during processing.” For Thomas Zopf, it makes perfect sense to expand EDI operations to include other customers. After all, “once the groundwork has been laid, it is easy to build on that,” Mr. Zopf said.