Chrysanthemums have a large market in the world, almost second only to roses and carnations. How is the market development in China? Meng Shi, the representative of China at Dekker, a world-renowned chrysanthemum breeder explains.
Headquartered in the Netherlands, Dekker has been studying chrysanthemums for over 60 years. According to Meng Shi, "Dekker's varieties entered the Chinese market very early, like the well-known yellow, white, and pink Ping-Pong, but there was no large-scale publicity campaign before. Since 2018, more attention has been paid to the Chinese market, and we now have more excellent partners to jointly expand and strengthen the chrysanthemum market. In addition, another development priority for us is to promote our brand culture so that everyone can understand more of our excellent varieties and more people know about the Dekker and the story behind the breeding."
According to Meng Shi, the market of cut chrysanthemums in China is changing rapidly. "The market used to demand just a couple of colors. However, with the promotion of varieties and more understanding of the cut chrysanthemum, the color and flower type of the cut chrysanthemum on the market are enriched. Consumers are increasingly looking for a unique flower type and color. People are showing more interest in the multi-head single petal varieties over last two years, such as our Memphis series which have very rich colors. We have launched five colors in China now, and these flowers have very good resistance to damage and disease." Meng Shi continued, "Dekker's chrysanthemum varieties are very rich and can meet the needs of different groups of people in the market. In addition to the Ping Pong series, Mona Lisa series, Princess Heart series, which have always been well known, we have launched more potential varieties, such as Stripes, Super Spiders, Capri, Proud Moon Series, Kennedy Series, Companion Series, Doria Series, Shine Series, and Memphis Series. For the well-known Ping Pong series, we have also launched more easy-to-grow varieties including Yellow Ping Pong, Purple Ping Pong, Mini Ping Pong, Doria Series, Little Sweetheart Series, and so on.
The cut flower industry in Yunnan is well developed and Yunnan is also the main growing area of cut chrysanthemums. "Most of our current customers are located in Yunnan. For Chinese customers, the pattern and color of flowers that meet the market demand are very important. At the same time, growers would like to buy varieties that are resistant to high and low temperatures and disease and easy to manage, which could reduce problems in the planting process."
When mentioning the impact of the COVID-19, Meng Shi added, "The pandemic has caused us a lot of challenges. We can't visit customers face-to-face, and we can only connect remotely. They can not intuitively see the full performance of the variety through online display, such as the softness and hardness of the leaf branches, the concept of the size of the flower type. This has had a certain impact. We are very much looking forward to visiting customers directly when the pandemic gets better, and customers can also come to visit our exhibition of varieties. "
More information:
Dekker Chrysanten BV
Contact: Meng Shi
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://dekkerchrysanten.com/en-asian/