LVG Plants is one of the nominees for the AIPH International Grower of The Year award. The pot-plant nursery run by brothers Ivo- Jan, Geert and Bart van Geest is located in South Africa. Perhaps not the easiest country to do business at the moment. But the brothers are optimistic. Geert: “We’re optimistic about the future of our company. We believe there are lots of opportunities in South Africa, especially if the country is managed properly.”
“It’s a great honour”, says Managing Director Geert van Geest, when we ask him how he feels about their nomination for the IGOTY award. “It’s really nice, especially for my dad Lourens. He emigrated from the Dutch town of Naaldwijk to South Africa in 1983, and there, 10,000 km away from home, he built up a successful company. But it’s great for the rest of the family too, because we’ve all worked very hard over the years. It’s really amazing to be shortlisted together with companies like Anthura and Dalat Hasfarm. Especially when I think of everything that happened the last couple of years. It’s been challenging to say the least. So, it’s great to be recognised internationally after all that.”
Deep assortment
LVG Plants is an 11-ha pot-plant nursery located in Krugersdorp. They grow 20 different varieties. Their main categories are flowering plants, green plants, bonsai and phalaenopsis. This deep assortment can be challenging in terms of cultivation, explains Geert. There’s a 2,500-3,000-m2 section of everything, which means you end up looking at the average, you can’t achieve top quality all the time. And timing can be tricky for crops following each other in the rotations. On the other hand, diversification spreads the risk.
Click here to read the full article on LVG Plants in the latest Floribusiness magazine.
