How should a new flower variety be put on the market? How to protect the legal rights of breeders and growers? How to promote the positive development of the market. With these questions in mind, HortiDaily interviewed Ms. Chen Lin, the founder of 24Hua.
Ms. Chen Lin, the founder of 24Hua
"I have been the general agent of Deliflor Chrysanten B.V. in China since 2007. Like other breeders, Deliflor's business model is mainly to collect royalty of new varieties, but this is very difficult in China. In addition, the domestic cut flowers marketing and sales was also very weak at that time, and there was almost no market promotion of products. Therefore, I established 24Hua, aiming to help breeders to better promote their products. By participating in different domestic exhibitions, the varieties are displayed in front of consumers in the form of flower art, which drives the launch of new varieties. At the same time, 24hua, as a carrier between growers and breeders, can better carry out information transmission and variety protection."
There has been a high demand for the protection of variety rights in the market. This requires the joint efforts of breeders, distribution channels, and growers. It is necessary for breeders to study the Chinese market carefully before putting a variety on the market. Only good varieties that meet the needs of the Chinese market can make the growers profitable, and the growers are willing to pay royalty, which ultimately forms a win-win situation, she explains. "There are many voices in the market complaining that growers do not pay royalty, but it is worth reflecting on whether breeders are fully prepared to collect royalty. Are the varieties put into China prepared for the Chinese market? Is there a corresponding marketing plan to assist growers? Can it help growers get real profits? Or is it just a strategy blindly and disorderly? "Chen asked rhetorically during the conversation. "A variety suitable for the Chinese market must be verified by time, and it must go through trials and errors. Marketing is not simply a nice picture."
"In the early years, the traditional wholesale market was extensive, and you didn't know where the products were distributed. But now, with the further maturity of the supply chain of the flower industry and the rise of social media, the distribution channels of flowers have been greatly improved. Most of the flowers are sold online, and the data is traceable. What we should think about is how to use the traceability of the data to protect the breeders' rights from the channel while ensuring effective supply at the source."
"Recently, my partner and I have newly obtained 15 hectares of land for agricultural facilities in Yunnan that can be recorded. Land resources in Yunnan are tight, which is not easy. The new base can help breeders to carry out product trial promotion and registration. It is worth mentioning that many varieties that are currently sold in large quantity in the Chinese market are unregistered, and it is even more difficult to protect unregistered varieties. I hope that industry practitioners will work together to bring good varieties, strong technical support, and marketing to the Chinese market and promote the positive development of the market," Chen concluded.
Chen Lin
