The demand for flowers and plants continues to grow. Consumers are always looking for something special. With this background, constantly looking out for new opportunities is the beating heart of Royal Van Zanten. Royal Van Zanten is the source of millions of flowers and plants every year. It is a Dutch breeding company for a range of potplants, cutflowers and flowerbulbs which operates successfully in the international floriculture.
Working at Royal Van Zanten means dedication to the quality of products. Having presence on all continents, the company also takes responsibilities towards society by investing in the environment and standing up for the industry in issues such as ensuring international compliance with Plant Breeders' Rights.
Recently, M.B. Naqvi, Editorial Coordinator of Floriculture Today and Chief Coordinator of International Flora Expo series had an opportunity to meet with Johannes Noor, Area Export Manager responsible for Indian exports in Royal Van Zanten, one of the leading bulk exporters based in Holland. Excerpts:
What is your understanding about Indian Floriculture Industry as a whole and the potential for lilium industry?
What I have seen is there's a lot of potential in the Indian Floriculture Industry. They have exclusive flowers, one of them is Lily. Lilium has a lot of potential in the Indian Floriculture Industry. The flowers are used to beautify the spaces indoor and outdoor. Many times it is seen, like at hotels, there are displays of lily arrangements at their reception or the entrance. Although, it seems that the industry has reached its maximum level of development since the last couple of years. For the last 3-4 years, nothing has been developed on the forefront, which has slowly but surely made the lily business come to a stand-still.
In your view what is the main reason behind this stand-still?
Government gives its support to the most part of India to develop the industry to a certain level. But, it seems that the support has been clogged somehow, making the industry come under pressure. I would say that the main reason is logistics wise, as there are great deals to be prevailed in India.
As per the assessment or industry sources, the import of bulk containers is almost 130-150 containers every year. So what is the share of your company in Indian lily/lilium bulk supplies?
We are dealing about 35-40% of the total lilium supplies as we have the benefit of being the grower, the breeder and the exporter ourselves. With this, we are well familiar with what is important and for whom, for example, India likes extreme colours and it is significantly used for wedding or any auspicious ceremonies. So when we receive a request from a country we are able to fulfil their request. We know our breeding lines which also helps us in the fulfilment process. To be more variety specific in the industry - especially for India, we invite customers to come over to see our breeds in the greenhouse so that they can select the varieties and step-by-step we can grow the varieties in demand.
If we compare the Indian lily market with China or even with Taiwan, our market is very small. What is the reason? Could you please tell us about the possibilities of increasing the consumption of lilium as a flower?
Yes, this is so surprising to me. The population of India and China is almost the same and we see that China is booming. They are supplying over 300 million pieces of lilies a year whereas India is only about 30 million maximum. The China market is 10 times bigger than the Indian market.
Earlier, when I started 12 years ago, both the markets were of same size. India being a well developed and a diversified country also having good connection with Europe was expected to be the larger market. I thought India will be more eager to grow and develop than China is but, I never expected that China could grow so fast as compared to India.
In my opinion, all the leading lilium bulk suppliers to India are joining hands in promoting lily as the potential market for Indian growers. They are producing all kinds of high quality flowers including lily but are not increasing the volume. The Industry sources say that if they increase the volume, prices will crash. So is it the right way of thinking or not? Are consumers ready to pay in India?
The price crash incident happened last year and that distressed the industry worldwide. Lilium industry was awfully under pressure. In India, the documents required for this business are in fact quiet complicated, which should be unproblematic. This has to be an important factor for the industry and for the government as well... There are so many restrictions, rules & regulations and paperwork that change often posing a major hitch in smooth processing of the production. This is the big difference with China. China is eager to develop and aims to formulate simple regulations. Their main concern is how to control the quality while having an easy process.
In India, there are numerous local authorities/Govt. organizations that all are needed to provide the stamp or authorization. This also leads to the postponement of the development. I feel pity for India as there is a lot of potential waiting to be tapped.
For sure, there is money and also the required facilities. Only logistics is needed to be improved which is otherwise developing. The growers in India are proficient enough to make the complete production for export purpose. The way India produces lilies is perfect and the quality is also outstanding. India is capable to lead the export market; they can export to New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and other important markets. In India, the production cost is low whereas the quality is high because of the right climate in the south region good for growing lilies. Consequently, I see a lot of potential but also see the way why it is not developed at the moment.
Is it the right time to launch a proper promotional campaign in India and pave a way for the Government people to meet and present your case?
We have a lot of contact with our Dutch Govt. and they have with the Indian Govt. What I feel is that there is lack of appropriate knowledge. For example, for Tulip Bulk exports they ask or require that the bulks are cooked - properly water treated. But Tulip cannot stand hot water treatment. So, it's impractical to export Tulips to India and it is because the parameters have been set up by somebody who has no knowledge about the procedure.
Understanding the technicalities has made your role so significant in the industry. If you represent the technical case of your industry to Govt. of India through Indian growers, it could be solved. What is your view over the matter?
Yes, but before arriving to that instance there are lots of restrictions and people who are needed to be involved in the process. This takes a long time making the decision-making a lengthy process in India. This is a really big issue.
Another important point is the Breeders' Right violations in different countries including India. So being a regular supplier of lily bulk, what is your experience?
The customers we are associated with are reliable, good growers and think about the future. The growers who get subjective about the Breeders' Right violations offer short-term businesses. Actually, we are looking for customers with whom we can have long-term relations. This is primarily the only thing we are looking for. For example, if we get a customer who wants to buy only flower wands from Royal Van Zanten, we will not consider that customer really creditable and would say thank you. Being a grower ourselves we in fact need to have steady relations with customers in the industry.
Do you have any such experiences with your company? Are people serious in India?
Not really, actually. No... Not in India. I don't think in India we have experienced anything in that manner.
Fair enough, people are serious in India. They are enthusiastic to grow and utilize good techniques. And for such wholehearted consumers, we offer visits of our greenhouses 3-4 times a year. We not only deliver a bulk but we also provide the technical suggestions. We try to work it out together. We want to make a fine product for the consumer mutually. The aim is that a consumer should be happy with our product. This is the only way how we can grow in the market.
How many companies represent your company in India? Who is your representative in India for supplying high quality bulks?
We have a lot of work with Black Tulip. When we have any difficulty and are not present in the country, Black Tulip is there for us to verify and resolve the problem endured. Mallikarjuna (Director) of Black Tulip has a lot of experience. We do have the authority to send somebody and provide the technical information as it is very important and people are investing a lot of money. We should not underestimate them. It is not like cuttings which are easy to carry; bulks are expensive. We, Royal Van Zanten, exist since 156 years ago in the industry and we want to make every bulk a successful task which is the only way to build up strong trustworthy associations otherwise it's not possible to sustain for such a long time.
What is your understanding about the North part of India like Himachal or Jammu & Kashmir?
I'm not sure but I think there is a difference in the mentality from the North to the South part of India. North people switch easily between the products and businesses. In the south, people set up the business and try to develop it step-by-step even if it takes a little longer time, whereas, in the north, people start business and if it doesn't work out they easily switch to another product. The difference in mentality is quite normal as we have seen this difference in Europe also. India is a big country so the understanding about the north part of India is a little edgy.
We are planning to organize an Award Function in February during our Exhibition. If we invite you as one of the speaker, is it possible for you?
Sure, I will do.