Discovering the latest in horticulture at Dutch Horti Week 2023

Covering two of the most prestigious trade fairs in the horticultural industry calendar can be daunting, especially considering the challenges posed by the global situation. Last year, exhibitors and visitors at Royal FloraHolland’s iconic Trade Fair Aalsmeer and the International Floriculture Trade Fair (IFTF) were dealing with impacts caused by high energy prices, the strong dollar against the euro, and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. This year, new geopolitical factors such as the Israeli-Hamas conflict and soaring cost of living have added to the challenges.

DAY ONE: TRADE FAIR AALSMEER

The first day was Wednesday, 8 November, at Trade Fair Aalsmeer, renowned for its New Product Showcase, which focuses on novel flowers and plants. So, this ‘newbie’ had a great time looking at the vibrantly coloured and patterned plants, including the Royal FloraHolland Glass Tulip winners such as Aglaonema’ Painted Celebration’, instant Forsythia hedges, the variegated Opuntia jamaicensis Variegata Ghost, the distinctive and filled Eustoma russellianum ‘Rosanne Terracotta’, the niche type orchid Maxillaria Coco (blooming in star-shaped flowers in fiery red exuding coco like fragrance) and Hydrangea serrata ‘Euphoria Pink’ featuring brilliant, two-toned foliage in white and green with a pink blush that nicely contrast with equally two-toned bright pink lace cap flowers.

In the 25,000m² exhibition space, there were 670 exhibitors, of which 420 were plant growers, 120 were flower growers, 75 were suppliers of added-value items, 16 were export companies, and 40 were breeders.

LAGUNA

My attention was first drawn to an impressive display of Medinilla magnifica. This beautiful plant looked otherworldly, with pink flowers, showy pink basal bracts, and leathery leaves hanging from the Laguna stand. Laguna is a family-owned business run by brothers Michel, Frank, Ron de Bakker, and their brother-in-law, Chris Kester. They specialise in carnivorous plants and Medinilla magnifica, a unique indoor plant from the Philippines. Only two growers in the Netherlands produce this plant.
From their breeding work, Laguna grows several varieties of Medinilla magnifica, including ‘Flamenco’ (paler pink bloom) and Medinilla magnifica Lambada (a compact flower that comes in a 40cm pot). They produce 100,000 plants annually, which take 40-45 weeks to grow to 70cm. The typical pot size for these plants is 17cm.
Laguna also has four of the most popular carnivorous plants: Sarracenia, Dionaea, Drosera, and Nepenthes. However, Medinella is the star product of Laguna, which also cultivates Brugmansia and Senetti.

LOGICO

At the Logico stand, we saw a range of orchids of various sizes and shapes. This organisation has been a sales partnership empowering partner orchid breeders in the Netherlands. We had the pleasure of speaking to Bos Flower and Orchids, who specialise in the beautiful Dendrobium nobile. Bos is one of only three Dendrobium growers in the Netherlands. They recently expanded their range to include Cymbidiums.

BUSH BROTHERS

The Bush Brothers successfully incorporated an Indiana Jones theme into their branding, focusing on their work as orchid hunters in the wild. The twin brothers, Marco and Patrick Lansbergen, are experts in botany and science, respectively, and have spent many years exploring the jungle, making significant discoveries such as the fragrant Oncidium, Zygopetalum, and the unique Brassia with its spidery petals. They are incredibly proud of their Ludisia orchid, which is highly valued for its foliage rather than its white flowers.

The Bush Brothers have won the prestigious Botanical Discovery Award from the International Botanists Association multiple times, and their work has been featured on the covers of numerous popular journals. When discovering a new species, they collaborate with a tissue culture laboratory in Thailand. This is a time-consuming process, after which the flask plants are finished in the Bush Brothers’ greenhouses.

The brothers’ parents, Theo and Toos Lansbergen were Bouvardia growers, but since 1994, the 4.4-hectare premises in De Lier, Westland, have featured a showroom with the finest orchids and green plants.

Thanks to the brothers’ passion for exploring nature’s unknown, they have assembled a collection of 50 orchids and green plants, some unique and most exclusive.

VDA PLANT

VDA Plant is a family-owned business that grows tropical houseplants on a 14-hectare land in the Netherlands. They have 100 workers in five locations, and their primary markets are the UK, Germany, and Ireland. VDA Plant imports starter plants from Central America and finishes them in their De Lier, Westland nursery. Their clients include retail, DIY, and garden centres.

Sustainability is at the forefront of VDA Plant’s priorities, with several certifications to prove it, such as MPS-A, MPS-GRASP, MPS-GAP, MPS-SQ, Sedex, and Cyclos-HTP. They aim to become peat-free by 2024 and have already reduced peat usage by 30 per cent in most products. They use biological solutions to grow their plants sustainably, which is a unique and environmentally friendly process.

VDA Plant has been trading in imported young plants since 1969, which they sent directly to various growers at home and abroad. In 2008, they started cultivating these plants, resulting in a shorter supply chain, lower cost prices for their customers, and increased transparency. Since then, the company has controlled the entire process, from product development to sales.

PLANT WORLD

Plant World is a collaboration of renowned companies, namely Van der Arend Tropical Plantcenter, JoGrow, Kwekerij Hoefnagels, and Smit Kwekerijen.

The companies came together in 2020 with a mission to bring unique plants to people’s homes to enhance their well-being and enjoyment of life. They offer a vast selection of (sub)tropical plants and Mediterranean trees, many of which are protected by plant breeder’s rights. Their nurseries located in Westland and Groningen serve customers across Europe and beyond. Additionally, they are open to collaborations in the field of growth and development of concepts.

This year, they have launched impressive plants such as the Magic Begonia, which has 25 varieties with various textures and coloured leaves, and Adorables, cute little hanging plants presented in an accompanying stand.

PLANTING SOLUTIONS

I noticed some interesting ways of displaying plants at the exhibition. Two stands particularly caught my attention. One showcased the use of recycled plastics, and the other utilised natural coconut fibres.

The Globee, created by Floriate, is a product that seeks partnerships with growers to fill their pots. This unique pot is produced in Lutjebroek, Netherlands, using recycled plastics. Its modular system comprises interchangeable elements that make the Globee versatile enough to stand flat or hang at different angles from a wall or ceiling. The cavity of this pot is big enough to hold pot sizes ranging from 12cm to 14cm, with ample space for watering.

Frank Timmerman, the founder of Floriate, states that 70 independent garden centres currently stock the Globee. The company has also partnered with the Greenbee Foundation to promote its Globee to 20 schools in the Netherlands and Belgium. The idea is to make children aware of the importance of caring for and benefiting from greenery.

Leon Prins, co-owner of Kokodama, takes equal pride in the brand’s collection of plants grown in plastic-free, 100% biodegradable pots made of coconut fibres. These pots create a visually appealing and sustainable statement, whether hanging from a bamboo jute string or standing independently.

LAUNCHING A NEW ROSE

Amidst a jubilant crowd singing Neil Diamond’s classic, Sweet Caroline, the CEO of rose breeder Jan Spek Rozen strummed a guitar. At the same time, the guest of honour, politician Caroline van der Plas, founder of the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), poured a bottle of champagne over Jan Spek Rozen’s latest display, launching its latest variety, the ‘Sweet Caroline’ Rose, grown by Brockhoff Roses in Luttelgeest, Netherlands. This enormous, heavily petalled rose has a blush pink centre that fades out to pale peachy cream on a 70cm stem, making it perfect for floral art and special occasions. The Sweet Caroline Rose will be available from mid-April 2024.

GLASS TULIP AWARDS

Royal FloraHolland presents the Glazen Tulp Award annually for the best innovative product. After two rounds of voting, the professional jury was able to view the novelties during TFA and determine this year’s winners of five categories.

• Cut flowers: Lugt Lisianthus won first prize with its Eustoma russellianum-filled flower ‘Rosanne Terracotta’.
• Houseplants Green: Ansu vof won first prize with its Aglaonema’ Painted Celebration’.
• Houseplants Flowering: Optiflor won first prize with its Maxillaria Coco in 9 cm pots.
• Garden plants: Van Son & Koot BV won first prize with its Hydrangea serrata’ Euphoria Pink’.
• Concepts: Ansu vof won first prize with its Tillandsia concept, ‘Tilly Tiles’.

DUTCH FLOWER GROUP AWARDS

Dutch Flower Group (DFG) hosted its annual Dutch Flower Group Awards ceremony on Wednesday, 8 November 2023, recognising DFG’s suppliers’ hard work.

This year’s winners include Zwettulips, Plant World and Marginpar. Nine cut flower and ornamental plant growers battled it out to win DFG’s prestigious Dutch Flower Award, identifying successful and growing companies.

AIPH ACTIVITIES

While the FCI editor and I listened to exhibitors talking about their new varieties, services, and innovations for the new selling season, my AIPH colleagues were talking to TFA exhibitors about the benefits of joining our grower association or checking up with our most recent Affiliate Members – Greenhouse Sustainability and HilverdaFlorist, or congratulating our steadfast members, such as Anthura, for their newest novelties, Phalaenopsis and Anthurium.

We ended the day sharing cocktails with our Turkish Members at the Turkish Ornamental Plants Exporters Association stand.

DAY TWO: INTERNATIONAL FLORICULTURE TRADE FAIR

We travelled to Expo Greater Amsterdam in Vijfhuizen the next day for the 2023 International Floriculture Trade Fair (IFTF). In the above-ground and naturally lit venue, there were over 300 exhibitors, among which a record number of 135 flower growers from 15 major flower-producing countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, Spain, Israel, Japan, Belgium, France, Rwanda, Turkey, India, Iran, and China.

Our questions were focused on the challenges and opportunities for each country.

SO^BELLA FLOWERS

So^Bella Flowers is an exporting company run by owners with 20 years of experience in the flower business as producers and exporters. They have a vast collection of over 40 types of flowers, including spectacular multi-coloured roses and exotic Pampa Grass, sourced from 150 farms across Ecuador covering 1,000 hectares. They offer preserved and painted varieties of flowers.

So^Bella Flowers is a privatised consolidation and shipping facility equipped with software that manages transport documentation and ensures timely product delivery. Boris Mantilla, a co-owner, talked to us about their products with great pride. He said, “Our flowers are nurtured using natural resources like the Andean sun, spring water from snowy volcanoes, and the collective passion of our community. Our prices are more affordable than those from Colombia, thanks to our lower manufacturing costs and low inflation of less than three per cent.”

He was also very candid about their challenges in the cut flower market, which seems slower than usual, even slower than in pre-Covid-19 years. So^Bella Flowers’ clients are in the USA, Europe, the UK, and Russia. They have become creative in their services by offering florists in the USA guaranteed delivery through their contract with FedEx.

ROOTS PERU

Brothers Alfredo and Alejandro Letts from Roots Peru noted that recent geopolitical events have led to a “buyer’s market” due to the cost of living. Nevertheless, they warmly displayed Yarrow, Kangaroo Paw, Aster Matsumoto, Delphinium Candle, Green Mist/Ammi majus, Gypsophila Tango, Leucadendron, Leucospermum, Liatris Callilepsis, Lisianthus Mariachi, Limonium Misty, Limonium Hybrids, Limonium Royal Magenta, Proteas, Sunflowers, and Waxflower.

Roots Peru, founded by Jose Letts in 1985, is a flower-growing business that stands out from its neighbours who cultivate fruit and vegetables. In 2016, Jose’s sons joined the family business, bringing a fresh perspective. The company has two farms in the highlands situated at an altitude of 2,300 metres in Caraz and Lima, allowing for year-round production. Additionally, they have farmland in the desert sands of Ica on the south coast, where they grow waxflowers. Starting with 20 hectares of land, they have expanded to over 100 hectares and added 16 different summer and novelty crops to their portfolio over time. Roots Peru employs over 400 qualified local workers, and their products have been shipped to markets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America for over 30 years.

RWANDAFRESH

Several small farm cooperatives from Rwanda came together under the Rwandafresh brand at IFTF to showcase the country’s floriculture sector. Bella Flowers, Oxfam Rwanda, Bright Harvest, and DUHAMIC-ADRI were among the organisations that attended the event. Their objective was to increase the visibility of Rwandan flowers on the market and attract more customers.

Mr Janvier Ugeziwe, a delegate from DUHAMIC-ADRI representing small-scale summer flowers, expressed that their participation in the event would enable them to learn more about increasing production and accessing markets for summer flowers. They hope to replicate this knowledge in Rwanda.

Anne Annunciata Karemara Numutali, founder and CEO of Bright Harvest Company, said that her company chose to participate in the event to showcase their flower varieties.

Godfrey Gakwandi, another delegate at the event, said that Oxfam supported the participation of flower exporters to increase the visibility of Rwanda’s quality flowers and facilitate sustainable market linkage of Rwanda’s industry with the rest of the world. He thanked the EU for supporting Rwanda’s flower industry through the “sustainable livelihoods in horticulture value chains project,” which financed this year’s participation.

“The Netherlands is known as the land of flowers,” said Rwanda’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe. “Flowers are economically significant to the country. A significant proportion of the country’s agricultural exports are derived from the sale of freshly cut flowers, bulbs, and mature plants. The Netherlands’ contributions to the flower industry are so significant that they make around two-thirds of the world’s total flora sales and completely dominate the European marketplace.”

NAEB’s statistical reports on Rwandan floriculture show that during the fiscal year 2022-2023, 23,678,585 stems of rose flowers and 8,881,404 stems of summer flowers were exported, generating USD 4,535,223 in foreign exchange earnings. A significant 98% of the Rwandan flowers are primarily sold to the Netherlands, with prospective markets developing in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Floriculture is a top-priority export sector in Rwanda that has been growing for the past decade. The Rwandan government has invested in infrastructure and earmarked specific locations to support floriculture. Investors are already successfully producing and exporting intermediate roses and summer flowers to EU markets and the rest of the world. The moderate tropical climate allows for the year-round growth of roses and summer flowers. Currently, over 200 hectares (100 hectares for roses and 100 hectares for summer flowers) are available for floriculture production, with potential for expansion in the future.

SELECT BREEDING

Dennis and Michael de Geus founded Select Breeding. Growing up in a rose nursery, the brothers developed a passion for roses early on. After completing their studies, they gained extensive experience in rose cultivation while working in the family business. Intrigued by the process of producing new varieties, they started moving into the rose breeding field 25 years ago.

Select Breeding has developed a unique vision for cultivating and growing roses. The company’s philosophy involves working closely with growers and purchasers while developing and introducing new rose varieties to meet the specific requirements of rose growers from different climate zones and markets.

Their business site in the Netherlands is a modern greenhouse spanning 5,000 square meters. Here, they conduct extensive cross-breeding on cut roses, garden roses, and patio roses. The first and second selections for cut roses take place in the Netherlands. After this, the new codes are sent to their other sites for further testing and selection. These sites are located in Naivasha, Kenya, at an altitude of 1,920 meters, and in Bogota, Colombia, at an elevation of 2,600 metres. The new codes are tested and selected under local cultivation conditions in these locations.

SELECTA ONE

Grandtastic is a new variety of Gypsophila characterised by thick stems, branches, and more volume and flower blossom. It emits an odour than other varieties. The flowers are large, pure white or artificially dyed and sit high on sturdy stems to create a more voluminous effect.
Selecta One bred this variety and commenced commercial production only a few months ago.

ROSES FOREVER

Building a successful and sustainable family business in rose breeding are husband and wife team Harley and Rosa Eskelund, who founded their production company Rosa ApS in 1988 in Sabro, near Aarhus, Denmark. Eight years later, they set up their breeding company, Roses Forever ApS, also in Denmark.

Revolutionary breeding work resulted in several of her roses winning medals and honorary awards.
Since 2015, Ivan Freeman, a specialist rose grower at Uhuru Flowers, has been testing Rosa’s roses on the slopes of Mount Kenya at an altitude of 2,600 metres on his 12-hectare farm.

At the IFTF, Rosa and Ivan launched a new rose named Rosa Loves Me® ‘Celebrating Heather,’ a large-headed rose, intense orange, cut rose named after Ivan’s late mother.
The new rose yields 160-180 stems/ m² with a stem length between 50 -70cm. The new variety is perfect for high-end florists, floral designers and event organisers because it opens gradually from rounded buds to cup-shaped blooms, as seen in English roses.
The name-giving ceremony around the new Rosa Loves Me® ‘Celebrating Heather’ rose coincided with the launch of a new website, www.vikingroses.com.

The Roses Forever ApS brand offers various rose products, including Love Forever miniature roses, large-flowered Infinity miniature roses, Love Fragrance Forever fragrant miniature roses, Plant’n’Relax garden roses, Rosa Loves Me nostalgic bourbon-shaped cut roses, romantic Sweet Home Roses also for the garden, Viking cut roses and Gourmet Roses for culinary use.

Roses Forever breeds and tests their roses in Denmark and the Netherlands and then further evaluates them with selected growers in countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Colombia, Ecuador, China, and Germany. The company is open to licensing its roses.

This article was first published in the December 2023 edition of FloraCulture International.