Plant Select is a biotech company operating worldwide in the production of in-vitro planting material and licensing programs. The in-vitro lab primarily propagates planting material of non-growing bamboo and special hydrangea species.
To monitor the high-quality standards of the planting material, the company propagates exclusively in its own in-vitro lab in Rijkevorsel, Belgium. To fulfill its growth ambitions and always work with the most innovative techniques, the company, therefore, opened a new laboratory last month. With a surface area of 1,300m², this lab is, in its own words, the largest in-vitro production lab in the Benelux countries and also houses its own R&D department. Together, this should guarantee innovations in both varieties and cultivation technology to make the plants of the future.
Plant Select from Rijkevorsel, Belgium, was founded in 1991 by Jan and Paul Oprins together with Chantal Quirynen, the current CEO, and grew into a successful player in the European ornamental plant sector. It focuses on four pillars: in-vitro, planting material, producing a select range of ornamental plants for retail, global licensing programs, and R&D in biotech.
Besides the lab, the company occupies 6 ha of production greenhouses, where many hundreds of thousands of plants are grown annually. Throughout Europe, Plant Select supplies a range of Hydrangeas, ornamental grasses, Fargesia, and Sarcococca. With an extensive range of Hydrangeas, Ilex, and Agapanthus, Plant Select is also a partner in the cultivation of licensed varieties. For example, the market is undoubtedly familiar with Hydrangea paniculata 'Wim's Red' and Ilex crenata 'Dark Green.' The workforce consists of some 35 FTEs. Since November 2020, the company and its management have been owned by Group MC, a family investment company that provides venture and growth capital to small and medium-sized enterprises with ambitious growth plans.
With the new lab, Plant Select hopes to specialize even further in the propagation of new varieties of planting material within its existing product groups. It also expects to accelerate the global commercialization of its plants.
The new lab will be officially opened next month.
For more information:
Plant Select 
Sint Lenaartsesteenweg 93
2310 Rijkevorsel, Belgium
[email protected]
www.plantselect.be