New Fashion Flowers exports tulips, amaryllises, lilies, hydrangea cuttings and cherry trees to Thailand. To reduce their transportation costs, they supply the Dutch market with Thai fruit and beauty products.
Large projects increase demand
A large project that drastically increased the demand for Dutch flower bulbs was the transformation of a park near Chang Mai. "Last year, this park was transformed into a flower garden that looks almost similar to the Dutch Keukenhof. For this project we delivered all the amaryllises, tulips and lilies. And we will also start supplying them other Dutch products like Dutch wooden shoes which will be sold at the shops in the park," says Bonnet.
Another large project took place in January as a large Thai oil refinery, called PTT, decided to grow Dutch tulips in their large greenhouses around the company. "Last January, we supplied them with 100,000 Dutch tulip bulbs of which 14,400 were King Bhumibol tulip bulbs. This tulip is named after the Thai King and is bred by Royal Van Zanten," says Bonnet, who exlusively represents the tulips of this breeder in Thailand. The tulips and the King Bhumibol tulip in particular are very popular. "For the next season, PTT has already ordered 28,000 of the King Bhumibol tulip bulbs, more are not available. In April the company will visit our office in the Netherlands to discuss their next orders," he says.
And the demand for Dutch flowers is expected to increase even further. In April, a group of Thai actors, crew and a famous Thai film director will come to the Netherlands to shoot a movie. "The movie will be about the mafia which is active in the flower business. The entire Dutch Flower sector, including New Fashion Flowers, will be put in the spotlight and the Keukenhof will be the scenery. The movie will be broadcasted in three parts in Thailand."
Richard Bonnet at the Horti Asia in Bangkok, China.
All started at Horti Asia in Bangkok
For New Fashion Flowers, it all started at the Horti Asia in Bangkok, which took place in March 2015. Since then, New Fashion Flowers has gone through lot of new developments. The company who mainly exported Dutch tulips and amaryllis, recently added lily bulbs, hydrangea cuttings and even cherry trees to their assortment. "The addition of the lilies really made our assortment complete. At the HortiAsia, Van den Bos Flowerbulbs, who was also exhibiting at the show, noticed our large presence on the Thai market and the direct lines we have - in Thailand we also have our own "New Fashion Flowers" office, managed by my brother-in-law, Dirk Thukrua. These direct lines enable us to ship the bulbs within three days from the Netherlands to Thailand. Therefore, they asked us to represent them in Thailand. Besides that, we also introduced the King Bhumibol tulip at this show, which boosted our tulip sales. It is now one of our top sellers," says Bonnet.
