Select Breeding, innovators, and specialists in rose breeding have added new breeds to their catalog, setting them apart in the competitive horticulture industry. The new varieties are FireFox which comes in Red, yellow, and bicolour varieties, for the low altitude farms and also for the high-altitude farms that want to grow premium products.
On the other hand, the breeders have a red variety, a premium red called Red Bentley. This variety is for intermediate and high-altitude growing.
“These new varieties are competing with strong varieties in the markets. And for growers in Kenya, it’s a new addition to the assortment, to compete with the famous Dutch Red, Naomi Rose in the Netherlands,” says Michael de Geus, co-founder of the company. The first commercial growers planted the new variety two years ago and the demand is growing steadily.
Located at Nini Flowers in Naivasha, Select Breeding strives to understand the market dynamics together with the growers to meet the ever-changing demands.
“Depending on the growers’ demand they select certain varieties from our breeding program which fit into their assortment. And then we closely work together for one to one and a half year to have a commercial introduction. Once the grower introduces the product commercially, demand begins to grow” says Michael.
Select Breeders understands that growers are constantly seeking improvements in existing varieties—whether in production performance, shelf life, or transportability. As a result, they set goals to align with market demands. Despite the breeding process to come up with a new product taking 6 to 8 years, the breeders are determined to meet customer demands.
“Therefore, we invested two years ago in a new trial greenhouse in Nini Flowers to give better service to the growers, by having them over our breeding farm to see the new products in an early stage,” says the breeder.
Select Breeders together with their Colombian partners, have also introduced a new line of Spray Roses which they started breeding 5 years ago and are coming up with the first commercial varieties in the market.
“Demand for spray rose flowers has grown rapidly in recent years, and we are working to meet that demand by developing a productive retail spray rose line. This initiative was started by our Colombian partner, who requested a productive retail spray rose variety in a range of colors. We have now expanded this approach to our Kenyan market as well.”
Michael further encourages growers to do group marketing to increase Kenya’s competitive edge in the flower export market.
“If you want to create growth, you have to create demand in the end markets like the Middle East or Europe. So the only thing that can be done is to do better promotion. To do better promotion and more promotion. But many growers are promoting individually you know. It should be good if they can promote as a group.”