Belgian grower Kris Stevens was already spending my free time on cutting and propagating plants when he was a young boy. He’d take his plants to the local farmers market to sell them. ”I worked as a baker for a while. At that time, I grew ornamental grasses in the field of a garden centre in Essen [Belgium, Ed.] as a side job. In 2010, I made this my main profession. I initially sold my own crops at markets, and I also supplied to wholesalers.”
How did you develop the business over the years?
”When I bought a house with some land in Wuustwezel in 2011, I expanded the production. Later on, I got the opportunity to lease more land. The largest company expansion was at the end of 2018, when I took over a floriculture company in Wernhout.”
What does your distribution look like now?
As a result of the expansion, our production has increased dramatically in recent years. ”We’re currently growing more than 500,000 ornamental grasses per year for example, more and more in pot sizes 6.5 and 12.5. We also grow more than 100,000 flowering plants. When our production increased, we gradually stopped selling our own produce at markets. In 2018, we made the switch to cultivating for the trade exclusively. We’re no longer selling directly to consumers.” (..)
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