"As breeders and propagators, our job is to meet the market demands of today and create the new varieties of tomorrow," says Hans Zwinkels, Royal Van Zanten senior sales representative. The world is Royal Van Zanten's marketplace, and that makes propagating new plant varieties a tough job, with so many variables to consider, from global consumer trends to the world's many different and changing climates. "Temperate Holland for instance requires totally different varieties than hot, dry Australia," Zwinkels says. From start to market, it takes about five years to propagate a new plant variety.
Team
Royal Van Zanten's main propagation work is done behind closed doors in laboratories and greenhouses in Holland. Using state-of-the art technology, researchers strive to create new, exclusive varieties and improve cultivation techniques. "Our team of propagators knows every kind of variety out there," Zwinkels says. "They know what to make or try to make, and are constantly traveling around world, bringing back new specimens and new ideas." Royal Van Zanten's floricultural product range includes Alstroemeria - Princess Lilies, Celosia, potted Chrysanthemum, Lilium, Begonia and Tulips.
Low-energy
Creating new varieties can mean creating new colors, shortening or lengthening stems, or, increasingly, owing to rising energy costs, creating varieties that need less energy to grow - fewer lights, cooler temperatures. "Low-energy plants are a priority in our sector today," Zwinkels says. "The goal is to create plants that grow just as well with 25% less energy." Much of Royal Van Zanten's breeding is now done in various locations worldwide, including Kenya, where Zwinkels says, "costs are lower and the climate ideal for testing how well new breeds withstand heat and disease."
Royal
The Van Zanten family founded their company in 1851, originally selling bean seeds, before expanding to include flowers and bulbs. In 1871, a Van Zanten son was dispatched to America to sell their seeds there. "The family believed the United States was the 'country of the future'," Zwinkels says, "and they were right." The company hasn't looked back since, steadily expanding globally and - after 100 years of successful international trade – earning the highest Dutch commercial honor: the right to add the word 'Royal' to its name – hence, Royal Van Zanten.
Best-selling
Today, Royal Van Zanten remains a family-run company, led by Arie van Zanten, with approximately 1,000 employees spread across the globe, from Brazil and South Africa, to Israel and New Zealand, as well the United States, where Royal Van Zanten America is a leading floricultural supplier and where the company's 25 varieties of Princess Lilies are best-selling flowers. "All told, we supply flowers and plants to approximately 25,000 growers around the world," Zwinkels says.
Incentives
Royal Van Zanten remains focused on 'countries of the future', like Colombia. "A recent US government program gave Colombian farmers money to switch from growing coca plants to other flowers and plants," Hans says. "Colombia now grows around 70% of world's alstroemeria and is a main exporter to the US." Royal Van Zanten enjoys a strong market position in Colombia. Hans: "We accounts for 70 to 80% of the flower and plant varieties currently grown in Colombia."
Secret
Royal Van Zanten is currently intensively testing two new varieties it hopes to launch next year. The tests - being conducted in two climatically diverse locations - Holland and the South of France – will answer key questions, like how long do the varieties take to grow and how long do their flowers remain fresh? Intrigued, the obvious follow-up question was: What type of varieties are they? "That," Hans says, grinning, "is a secret. You'll just have to wait until 2007 to find out!"
