Jon Wicker grew up in the turf industry and he fondly recalls, as a young boy, riding a tractor alongside his father. Today, Wicker serves as a vice president and COO at Southeastern Turf Grass Supply, the company his father, Robert H. Wicker, started four decades ago.
Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Southeastern Turf Grass Supply serves customers in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. It provides a full range of turf-related services, chief among them pesticide and herbicide application, but also including aerification and drainage issues.
Wicker’s company is small and does not handle a broad range of product lines. Instead, for the last 15 years it has focused on a strategy of generic products.
“The fact is, we’re making decisions for the health of the plant that we’re growing, just like a doctor would make decisions for the patient,” Wicker says. “If a doctor is comfortable prescribing a human a generic equivalent of an active ingredient, then why would we not be [comfortable] prescribing a generic equivalent of an active ingredient to a plant?”
As Southeastern Turf Grass Supply committed to generic products, Wicker’s company established a relationship with United Phosphorous Inc. (UPI), one that continues to this day. UPI, a supplier of crop protection products and plant technologies designed for the agricultural, professional, and aquatics markets, deals extensively in generics.
“Our relationship with (UPI) developed when we were exploring generic products for the insect market,” Wicker explains. “We went through and said ‘Who has the generic products and who has the most predictable controlled processes with them? We chose United Phosphorous because of that predictability.
“We were looking at it simply as: ‘Where is the best value you can get for the dollar spent?” and we thought it was in the generic market,” he adds. “Their products are predictable and in our opinion are equivalent to any of the branded producers that are out there.”
UPI’s cost effectiveness is another selling point, Wicker says. “UPI has done a good job with their product mix of bringing cost-effective value to the market,” he says. “I just believe that. There are other generic producers that we could represent but we chose not to because we don’t think they bring the marketing value.”
In 2016 UPIrrrr introduced Goliath XP, a generic fungicide (active ingredients: (azoxystrobin and propiconazole) which has proven effective against a wide variety of diseases, including brown patch and dollar spot. It is intended for application on cool-season grasses. As such, it is used primarily in northern latitudes and in the transition zone, so there is relatively little demand for Goliath XP among Wicker’s customers, who more likely to inquire about an insecticide than a fungicide.
But Wicker notes the product has proven effective on Ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens. “I have sold Goliath to (customers) who use it on their new Ultradwarfs,” he says. “They’re fighting some of the newer diseases on Ultradwarf, they need that azoxystrobin in there. We’ve sold it as part of their rotational chemistry and they’ve used it very successfully.”
At first, Wicker’s customers were hesitant to introduce Goliath XP into their fungicide rotation, in part because of early order program (EOP) considerations. “Down here It took a while to displace the equivalent in the market simply because of the way those are marketed because of EOP issues,” he says. “I get the math, if you’re branded committed you can save 10 percent but if (the customer realizes) ‘I can save 10 percent, or 50 percent or 100 percent because it’s half the cost if I go generic,’ it’s very difficult for me …. to say it doesn’t make sense to not pick and choose among the generic products.
“When you’re going in with United Phosphorous, it doesn’t have that EOP sales program. Goliath becomes a product you have to position to removed its branded counterpart from that EOP program. So, there were people that bought Goliath, but it was more of a spot case sale than it was a program sale.”
Wicker admits there may not be a generic solution to every turf issue. He and his company are committed to helping their customers solve their problems. If that means recommending a brand-name product over a generic, so be it.
“We’ve viewed ourselves as a company that goes in and seeks a solution to a problem,” Wicker says. “I would look at a guy and say ‘I don’t have the branded product. You need the branded product. I don’t carry that. I’m not a distributer. But that’s the product that you (should use).’ I would much rather pass on a sale than try to shove a square peg in a round hole.”
In the end, Southeastern Turf Grass Supply’s ultimate commitment is not to a product line, or a group of products, but instead to quality customer service.
“We’ve been at this since 1978,” Wicker says. “We were here before a lot of people were started. And we’ll be here as long as we continue to choose to run a small business, and because of our ability to look at a problem, try to solve a problem, and be an honest broker.”
No more results found. Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Southeastern Turf Grass Supply serves customers in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. It provides a full range of turf-related services, chief among them pesticide and herbicide application, but also including aerification and drainage issues. Wicker’s company is small and does not handle a broad range of product lines. Instead, for the last 15 years it has focused on a strategy of generic products.
“The fact is, we’re making decisions for the health of the plant that we’re growing, just like a doctor would make decisions for the patient,” Wicker says. “If a doctor is comfortable prescribing a human a generic equivalent of an active ingredient, then why would we not be [comfortable] prescribing a generic equivalent of an active ingredient to a plant?”
As Southeastern Turf Grass Supply committed to generic products, Wicker’s company established a relationship with United Phosphorous Inc. (UPI), one that continues to this day. UPI, a supplier of crop protection products and plant technologies designed for the agricultural, professional, and aquatics markets, deals extensively in generics.
“Our relationship with (UPI) developed when we were exploring generic products for the insect market,” Wicker explains. “We went through and said ‘Who has the generic products and who has the most predictable controlled processes with them? We chose United Phosphorous because of that predictability.
“We were looking at it simply as: ‘Where is the best value you can get for the dollar spent?” and we thought it was in the generic market,” he adds. “Their products are predictable and in our opinion are equivalent to any of the branded producers that are out there.”
UPI’s cost effectiveness is another selling point, Wicker says. “UPI has done a good job with their product mix of bringing cost-effective value to the market,” he says. “I just believe that. There are other generic producers that we could represent but we chose not to because we don’t think they bring the marketing value.”
In 2016 UPIrrrr introduced Goliath XP, a generic fungicide (active ingredients: (azoxystrobin and propiconazole) which has proven effective against a wide variety of diseases, including brown patch and dollar spot. It is intended for application on cool-season grasses. As such, it is used primarily in northern latitudes and in the transition zone, so there is relatively little demand for Goliath XP among Wicker’s customers, who more likely to inquire about an insecticide than a fungicide.
But Wicker notes the product has proven effective on Ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens. “I have sold Goliath to (customers) who use it on their new Ultradwarfs,” he says. “They’re fighting some of the newer diseases on Ultradwarf, they need that azoxystrobin in there. We’ve sold it as part of their rotational chemistry and they’ve used it very successfully.”
At first, Wicker’s customers were hesitant to introduce Goliath XP into their fungicide rotation, in part because of early order program (EOP) considerations. “Down here It took a while to displace the equivalent in the market simply because of the way those are marketed because of EOP issues,” he says. “I get the math, if you’re branded committed you can save 10 percent but if (the customer realizes) ‘I can save 10 percent, or 50 percent or 100 percent because it’s half the cost if I go generic,’ it’s very difficult for me …. to say it doesn’t make sense to not pick and choose among the generic products.
“When you’re going in with United Phosphorous, it doesn’t have that EOP sales program. Goliath becomes a product you have to position to removed its branded counterpart from that EOP program. So, there were people that bought Goliath, but it was more of a spot case sale than it was a program sale.”
Wicker admits there may not be a generic solution to every turf issue. He and his company are committed to helping their customers solve their problems. If that means recommending a brand-name product over a generic, so be it.
“We’ve viewed ourselves as a company that goes in and seeks a solution to a problem,” Wicker says. “I would look at a guy and say ‘I don’t have the branded product. You need the branded product. I don’t carry that. I’m not a distributer. But that’s the product that you (should use).’ I would much rather pass on a sale than try to shove a square peg in a round hole.”
In the end, Southeastern Turf Grass Supply’s ultimate commitment is not to a product line, or a group of products, but instead to quality customer service.
“We’ve been at this since 1978,” Wicker says. “We were here before a lot of people were started. And we’ll be here as long as we continue to choose to run a small business, and because of our ability to look at a problem, try to solve a problem, and be an honest broker.”