Rosa Danica has launched a novelty: The1Rose. It concerns a potted rose, consisting of only one stem, in a 7-cm pot. Director Torben Moth Madsen expects the product to be popular with young people.
Torben Moth Madsen, owner of Rosa Danica, recently presented their novelty at Flowertime in Odense. “Young people don’t buy traditional potted roses. They think they’re boring. That’s why we’re trying this product.” The1Rose has a shelf life of 4 to 6 weeks and it’s sold in a specially developed tube, explains Moth Madsen.
Rosa Danica is planning to sell the new rose in a pot with a watering system, so that the flowers don’t dry out. It’s going to be a plastic pot, no ceramics. The latter isn’t always waterproof. Both the variety and the name are protected. The novelty will also be on display at the FloraHolland Trade Fair in Aalsmeer, in the beginning of November.
Rosa Danica is Denmark’s largest producer of pot roses. They’ve got 10 hectares of rose cultivation, grown from material of German breeding company Kordes. They’ve also got 4 hectares of schlumbergera and campanula, which they breed in-house. The company employs 100 to 140 people.
Three years ago, Rosa Danica introduced the RosAroma, a scented pot rose. Moth Madsen is very happy with that product. “RosAroma is mostly sold by contract. It’s more expensive than our traditional pot roses. We’ve been getting very positive feedback from garden centres and the more high-end shops and supermarkets. RosAroma is particularly popular in England, because of its colour and fragrance.”
Moth Madsen indicates that Rosa Danica was surprised to discover that scent was such an important factor for the purchase of plants. “We were always very focused on sustainability, uniformity and plant health, but consumers don’t think about those things at all. They buy a product on the basis of what they see and what they smell. On the basis of emotions.” So, scent turned out to be very important. Moth Madsen: “Most of the new garden roses are also scented.”
The Danish company supports the fight against breast cancer. Around Pink Saturday, the first Saturday in October, Rosa Danica sells a special selection of pink roses, packed in pink sleeves. The price for these pot roses is higher than normal and the extra revenue is donated to the Cancer Society. A total of 180,000 to 200,000 pink pot roses are sold for Pink Saturday each year in Denmark and Finland, good for an annual donation of 250,000 to 300,000 Danish krone.
