A FAMILY BUSINESS
DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE HORTICULTURAL PROFESSION
Gartneriet PKM A/S was founded by Poul and Marie Madsen in 1948, when they took over a vegetable horticulture with five small greenhouses totalling 1,500 sqm in Søhus near Odense. The production grew steadily, especially when Poul Madsen began to specialise in plants in the late 1950s. Around 1960 the production of Campanula, Schlumbergera and Rhipsalidopsis started.
Poul Madsen was an empathetic and positive man with a ‘people first’ mindset. He never concealed the fact that hard-working, enterprising and loyal employees were essential for the success of any company. He was a practitioner who saw opportunities rather than constraints. From Poul Madsen’s approach to people and positive mindset grew the spirit that still prevails in the company.

There was no doubt that Poul Madsen wanted his passion for horticulture to live on in his children, and indeed 3 of the 4 children became trained gardeners. It was his son Kristian who was to take over PKM. After some years of globetrottting in Norway, Germany, New Zealand, California and South and Central America, where he worked in horticulture, developed an innovative mindset and learned to see opportunities instead of limitations – just like his father – he was ready.
In 1983 Poul Madsen and his son Kristian founded the limited company ‘Poul & Kristian Madsen’s Gartneri ApS’ and in 1989 Kristian Madsen took over the nursery in full. This was followed by an instructive time with both ups and downs, where Kristian really found his place in horticulture. He learned the importance of strong customer relationships and that skilled and committed employees are an indispensable prerequisite for a healthy business.

In 2001, PKM added another family member to its staff when Kristian Madsen’s wife Annett was hired to handle marketing, administrative and representative tasks. Since Kristian’s business card read ‘gardener’, it was natural that Annett’s would read ‘gardener’s wife’. An expression of the informal family spirit of the company. Today, Annett has taken over as CEO of PKM.
In 2007/2008 and 2010, PKM made its largest investment ever. A total of DKK 100 million was spent on building around 50,000 square metres of greenhouse space to meet the growing demand for the popular Campanula type GET MEE®. In 2017, PKM invested in a large automatic packing and sorting system. In the same year, the generational change to the third generation was completed, so his son Poul Madsen, who has been with the company since he was a small boy, is now the owner of the PKM Group.
 
PKM’s history, development, ups and downs have made us the company we are today. A modern horticultural company where each employee is valued and seen as part of the family. Through a committed, responsible and respectful approach we create strong customer relationships, high quality plants and develop and share best practices with the horticultural industry.