" We did have a bun in the oven to receive outside requests , but not this many " , say Frans Ederveen of Flora Delight . Together with Marco van Sandijk these two Dutchmen get down to trial hydrangeas at their farm in 2011 with the aim of growing and supplying them class round . After years of trialing , they put their first Kenyan rise hydrangeas on the market in 2013 and since then a great deal has happened . Now , they are able-bodied to supply year rung and they just eat up their final greenhouse which all shift their production from tunnels to home .
Frans Ederveen at the IFTEX 2019 holding the golden award they gain ground at the IFTEX ’s Grower Quality Competition in the class Best Grower Assorted Cut Flowers .
twelvemonth circle productionEderveen and his business collaborator Sandijk established their job in Kenya in 2007 . They mainly rise ranunculus and afterwards also several summer flush . They quickly notice a good opportunity to grow hydrangeas year round . " The 52 weeks of cheerfulness made us decide to start trialing the craw in 2011 , after years of adjusting the craw to the Kenyan mood . And it confirmed their arithmetic mean . " As before long as we take in the results , we were sure that it could be naturalize year round as the ' cold time period ' has n’t had a negatively charged influence on the crop . "
So , in the years that come , they continue adjust the hydrangeas to the Kenyan conditions , expanding the refinement acreage and so on .
Flora Delight ’s hydrangea crop in the glasshouse .
From tunnels to greenhousesAll hydrangeas used to grow in tunnels , but after growing their harvest for years , they settle to instal greenhouses . Over the last two year , they step by step establish nursery and step by step switch their craw in this new environs . And Ederveen is pleased with the switch . " The humidity is much more stable and we can automate more processes , like showing , which will benefit the refinement . " Now they have 16 ha of greenhouses in production .
Inside the greenhouses , the crop is divided in unlike departments . it assure us a ceaseless supply and we can anticipate on of import holiday like Christmas , Valentine ’s Day , Mother ’s Day in the UK and Russian Women ’s Day .
DemandEderveen always saw the potency in the hydrangea market . " Annually a lot of hydrangea bow are being produce in the Netherlands and there is a gamey production in South America , which is mostly focused on the US market . However , compared to blush wine , the universal hydrangea production is still pocket-size . So , there is a big potential to elaborate in this market . And therefore , we thought that the year - round production and availability of this flower would offer a great opportunity " , he told FloralDaily in anarticlein 2016 .
And his foretelling came true . " We did not expect to get so many requests when the season ended , the end of May . " He receives more and more more requests from nation within Europe as well as outside of Europe . "
VarietiesAt the moment , Flora Delight has 6 varieties in their assortment . We constantly better our range and we recently add 4 to 6 new colouring . Their aim is to have a compass of 12 - 14 colors . " This will be enough pick for our emptor to pick out from . "
Future plansThey are presently one of the most New companies in Kenya and in the futurity , they will continue working on their worldwide locating . Also they will keep investing in the processes in the greenhouse , like improving the interior logistics by put in a sort of monorail and improving the vase life of the product within the chain . " Vase life of the hydrangea within the chain is a major problem nowadays and we are working hard to get a solution . "
For more info : Flora DelightFrans EderveenEmail:[email protected]www.floradelight.com
