Dümmen Orange moves pot and garden mum breeding to the Netherlands

Jeroen Meeder sales manager Benelux Annuals and Perennials (left) and Hugo-Gonzalez-Dupuy breeder pot and garden mum.

WESTLAND, Netherlands: Breeder Dümmen Orange has moved its breeding facilities for pot and garden mums from Fareham (UK) to its location in De Kwakel (the Netherlands). There, newly installed and climate-controlled greenhouse compartments provide stable and monitored conditions for conducting trials and ensure superior breeding outputs.

With this move, Dümmen Orange has centralised its breeding activities for pot and garden Chrysanthemum at one location. This includes building up and maintenance of mother stock, the development of new varieties and the organisation of flower trials. All activities are conducted in compliance with high hygiene standards. At the De Kwakel location, Dümmen Orange has access to a large field for extensive outdoor trials in order to assess the garden performance of its garden mum range.

“We started this relocation process already in 2020,” says Paul Maris, Breeding Director at Dümmen Orange. “Based on our expectation of the future needs for pot and garden mum breeding and the ideal location to realise this, we started drafting the contours of a new facility, together with some construction companies. For us, the Netherlands was the obvious choice because of the close proximity to the majority of our customers and the technologies and knowledge that are available in our Breeding Technology Centre in De Lier, which we opened in 2020. We physically started to move our plant material from the UK in October of 2021 and our breeding activities there have ended as of January 1st. Our local breeder, Peter Wain, who has done an excellent job, will be succeeded by a new team of ambitious breeders. They will be supported by our R&D colleagues in De Kwakel and De Lier and the greenhouse operational team. Peter remains connected with the breeding program and will visit the variety trials when selections need to be made. We have just celebrated the success of our first Chrysanthemum trial for our customers in De Kwakel, which was the first tangible result of all the hard work of our team in the UK and the Netherlands during the past transition period.”

Mike van Os, Product Manager Pot Plants at Dümmen Orange, is also happy with the move. “It’s not just the facility. We’re much closer to our main markets now and customers have better access to all developments and products that we have to offer. Here, we have great opportunities for better product selections that meet our customers’ expectations.”

Dümmen Orange is a global leader in the breeding and propagation of cut flowers, bulbs, tropical plants, pot plants, bedding plants and perennials. Its annual turnover is about 370 million euro. The company employs 7.500 people worldwide. In addition to a large marketing and sales network, Dümmen Orange has a diversified network of specialized production sites and a world class R&D team developing innovative, value-added products for customers. The key to Dümmen Orange’s success is a broad and deep product range, supported by a global supply chain. The company embraces its social responsibilities and invests in the health, safety and personal development of its staff as well as the sector it serves.