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Frans Ederveen and Ken Wangwe at the IFTEX in Nairobi, Kenya.
'Kenyan' hydrangea
Creating hydrangeas that are resistant to the Keny
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Year round production
According to Ederveen. the hydrangea is an exclusive product worldwide. "Annually about 30 million hydrangea stems are being produced in the Netherlands and there is a high production in South America, which is mostly focused on the US market. However, compared to roses, the worldwide hydrangea production is still small. So, there is a large potential to expand in this market. And therefore, the year round production and availability of this flower offers a great opportunity", says Ederveen. "The European production season runs from April to November and we are able to supply hydrangeas from September till June. In this way, the European market can be supplied with hydrangea flowers all year round", he says.
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The hydrangeas at FloraDelight are cultivated in a 18ha sized greenhouse at an altitude of 2300 meters.
Export markets
However, not only the European market can benefit from Fora Delight's almost year round production. About 50% of their volumes are supplied to the Dutch auction and about 50% to the direct market. "These export markets include China, South Africa, Congo, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq and Russia", says Ederveen. And from both markets, at the auction and the direct market, they see the demand increasing. "At the moment, the demand is greater than the supply", he says.
Future plans
In the future, Flora Delight has a couple of plans in the pipeline. Firstly, they are eager to add new colors to their assortment. "When looking at the demands of our clients, we would like to offer 10-12 colors." Besides that, they are also planning to grow another two hectares, from 18ha to 20ha, this coming year and even further afterwards. Finally, they want to increase the amount of hydrangeas from their own breeding program and work on more so-called foolproof varieties. "We want to develop hydrangeas that are more resistant and more easy to pack, unpack and so on", concludes Ederveen.
For more information:
Flora Delight
Frans Ederveen
Email: [email protected]
www.floradelight.com