Kenya: Sales of Panocal's new rose variety go to charity

Earlier this year, Kenyan rose grower Panocal added a new rose variety to its assortment and the first sales went to building a dining room at a Kenyan secondary school. The first roses were sold on the clock in Floraholland Naaldwijk, the Netherlands, and they raised 10,000 euros. Currently, the dining room is finished and being used and the roses are being sold commercially at the Dutch auction.

Paul Wekesa and Mercy Njuguna at the IFTF in Vijfhuizen, the Netherlands.

According to Paul Wekesa, director of Panocal, this new variety of Olij Breeding (now Dümmen Orange) raised more money than expected. "The buyers knew what charity the money was raised for and this could be noticed in their bids. They were very generous. The roses were sold between 3 and 10 euros per stem" he says.

The dining room. In the picture on the right: Jan and Wiclo of FloraHolland who were inspecting the progress of the construction of the dining room.

The school where the dining hall has been built is at Panocal's own secondary school. "We donated land where it is located and we have been funding it for the last 15 years."

The Arancio on display at the IFTF Vijfhuizen.

Arancio
And the name of this variety is Arancio. "It is a deep Orange Intermediate T hybrid with a ‘square shaped’ flower. It has a vaselife of about 17 days and the strong petals makes the flower a good transporter. The rose opens slowly and has a stem length of 40-80cm", says Wekesa.

Inauguration of the Dining room.

Pleased
At Panocal, the variety is planted on 1 ha and is currently being sold commercially to the auction clock Naaldwijk and Eden, the Netherlands. "The variety is doing OK and we will see what the future will bring for this variety", concludes Wekesa.

Inauguration of the Dining room.

For more information
Panocal

Paul Wekesa
Email: pwekesa@africaonline.co.ke
www.panocal.com