nother takeover, namely that of Olij Rozen International/Olij Breeding. Olij has its main office in De Kwakel (Netherlands), with branch offices in Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia and Ecuador. The Olij Rozen brand name will eventually make the transition into Dümmen Orange.This is the fourth takeover since DNA Green Group changed its name to Dümmen Orange in April 2015. Companies including Florexpo, Wander Tuinier and Hobaho are now part of the group. According to Ringo Veenman, Commercial Director at Dümmen Orange, the goal is not to become as big as possible. "We want to become more 'complete', and we aim for an average market share of 20 percent in each main crop. We do this through autonomous growth and acquisition," he says. Having acquired Olij, Dümmen Orange is no longer just a rose breeder, but also a propagator of roses. "What also comes into play", he says, "is that Dümmen is a relatively small player in South America, contrary to Olij. Olij is strong in the range where we are not," Veenman says.
According to Veenman and Ruud Olij, Director of Olij, there are also many advantages for his company. “Becoming part of Dümmen Orange will enable us to offer a more extensive assortment to all our customers and make use of technical knowledge and logistics in order to create a better product,” he says. “Our activities are highly complementary and we look forward to achieving enhanced added value for our customers and agencies worldwide.”
The merger also brings benefits in the area of disease control and phytosanitary solutions. Through its Green Care policy, Dümmen Orange is adopting targeted measures to supply healthy cuttings and plants. Hans van den Heuvel, R&D Director at Dümmen Orange: “When preparing for the acquisition, our priority was the implementation of Green Care for roses, including an ‘Elite’ step in the process which will enable us to guarantee a clean product. Our customers can be confident that this will result in a long-term improvement within a few months."
Knowledge in the field of DNA-marker assisted breeding is also being shared with
Olij, allowing more targeted breeding of roses with, for example, resistance to diseases and pests. This will make both cultivation and the product more environmentally friendly and more sustainable. Harry Kloppenburg, Commercial
Director at Dümmen Orange: “Olij’s activities offer potential for optimising our breeding activities for more crops and bringing better and innovative varieties onto the market. The synergy benefits of breeding, sales and marketing make this a great opportunity for both companies.”
Dümmen on a takeover mission
Over a year ago, on April 23th 2015, DNA Green Group changed its name to Dümmen Orange. Well-known names such as Lex+, Bartels, Terra Nigra, Dümmen Group, Agribio China, Agribio Colombia, Oro, PLA as well as the production locations changed their name to Dümmen Orange immediately. Afterwards, Rijnplant, Ecke, Oglevee, Red Fox, Fides, Japan Agribion and Barberet & Blanc, became Dümmen Orange as well. Since its name change, the new company has increased in size by taking over more breeding companies, like Florexpo, Wander Tuinier, Hobaho and now Olij Breeding joins the family too.
"Some believe growth is a goal in itself, but that's not the case," Veenman says. He emphasizes that the goal is not to become the biggest, but to become as complete as possible. "We welcome good competition. This keeps us and everyone else in the industry on our toes, and encourages product developments."
Who's next?
Can we expect more takeovers in this industry? "Not at the moment, but never say never. Lately it's not just been us approaching companies, but companies are approaching us as well. But as stated before, we don't just take over anything and everything to become the biggest. The takeovers are all deliberate decisions. The companies we acquired all have added value. Not just for us, but also for the company."