Inspiration Week 23, an initiative whereby five orchid growers jointly hold open house. The possibilities with the plant seem endless, as evidenced by the numerous innovations, ideas, concepts, shapes, colors, combinations, etc. We took a look at the participants; consecutively Lansbergen, OK Plant, Piet Vijverberg, Opti-Flor and Levoplant - all very different companies with at least this common denominator: each distinguishes itself in some way within the exclusive orchids segment.
Brothers Patrick and Marco with colleague Esmeralda
Lansbergen specializes in special orchids and plants and in principle has a selection of plants in each segment, except for the Phalaenopsis itself. Patrick and Marco Lansbergen supposedly have a nose for special - and also fragrant: many of the flowers give off a pleasant scent. One of the relatively new developments is the combination of various scented plants in a scent mix. By cross-breeding, the grower has also brought several own varieties to market and is particularly specialized in Brassia, Zygopetalum and Oncidium. Last but not least: starting in September, the breeder will initiate the More Lips concept.
Thijs van der Valk of OK Plant, here with Macramé
"Little Kolibri Orchids is OK Plant’s special brand, under which virtually all plants are sold, unless the customer doesn’t want it," says Thijs van der Valk. The breeder has paid special attention to its presentation, whereby new concepts can be viewed in several inspiration rooms. "One room is modern, the other classical, the next in a more Vanessa/bling-bling style, etc. In them, some 40 new concepts can be seen that we walk by with the customer. Afterwards we’ll evaluate what they think and decide what we’re going to continue with." To mention one: the Macramé is a new variety, that can be hung from the ceiling with a trendy rope net.
Alex Duindam next to The Big 5 wall
Piet Vijverberg, a particularly enterprising nursery that regularly makes itself heard with new ideas and collaborations as CarryMe and ‘Het Beste van de Kweker’ (The Best of the Breeder), is presenting The Big 5. '' ‘Star Quality... By 5' is the brand name under which Vijverberg is marketing its degree of quality," according to Alex Duindam. "The Big 5, like our brand name, is both a nod to the name Vijverberg as to the 5 stars indicating the best of the best in several markets. But we'll also be selling these species - about 12 of them – purely on variety. That's one of the trends of the moment that we also strongly believe in."
The impressive orchid 'chandelier' at Opti-Flor
Opti-Flor seems to believe in a professional presentation in general. The breeder has a nice permanent showroom - and a small ‘museum’ that portrays the history of the company. Striking in the range is the huge Formidablo, a long staircase along which flowers have been positioned evenly, which is a real eye-catcher. But a lot of new stuff can also be seen: "One of the trends, for example, is letting stems and flowers hand loose - the Wild Orchid -, which gives the plant a certain natural appearance. Furthermore, we of course also experiment with many new varieties and concepts," says Lisette van Geest, who works in marketing at Opti-Flor.
Micha Groothuizen
Like Vijverberg, Levoplant is also following the selling-on-variety trend. Micah Groothuizen: "I dare say that of '17, or maybe '18, practically everything will be sold on variety. We’ve been trying to achieve this for a couple of years now, but it's a process that takes years." In the stylish lobby the company is presenting the currently well-known brands iLike, Leornardo, Duetto and Luxury Garden, but several new products are also on display. Soon another brand will be added: Dutch Design. "We’ll be marketing all varieties under this brand that don’t fall under one of our other brands. We’re still experimenting in terms of content and concepts, but there’s no shortage of ideas!"
