Up the Supply Chain BY LAURIE HERRERA
THE DECADE BEHIND A ROSE’S DEBUT > On any given day, there may be hun- dreds of roses in Aviram Krell’s Miami office. At times, the sheer number of vases has impacted his maneuverability. The abundance of blooms isn’t because Krell loves roses — although he abso- lutely does. His office is the last stop on a yearslong process to develop new rose varieties. Krell, public relations manager at Plantec Ecuador, evaluates each prospective bloom against current best-selling varieties to see if it’s worth introducing it to the market. “It’s not about having something
good. It’s about having something better than what else is on the market,” Krell says. “It’s a very high bar.” A new rose variety must be demon-
strably better to convince a farm to uproot existing plants to make space for something new, so breeders listen closely to what characteristics their
clients — commercial growers — are looking for. They can make predictions based on current demand or trend cycles, but knowing what the market will want years in advance is nearly impossible. “What we’re selecting today, right
now, is going to be commercially avail- able in 2033,” Krell says. “That’s a long time. It’s hard to know what’s going to be popular tomorrow.” Breeders also value feedback from
florists. “We want the supply chain to be
more like a circle instead of a line,” says Alejandra Fernandez, marketing leader of Dümmen Orange. “Then we can develop with a little more view of what the market wants.”
Laurie Herrera is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
THE BREEDING JOURNEY
The yearslong breeding process starts with an idea and takes years before successful varieties end up on the market. Time frames may vary depending on the business and weather.
BREEDERS SELECT ROSES TO CROSS-BREED BASED ON DESIRABLE TRAITS, THEN INITIATE POLLINATION. IF GERMINATION OCCURS AND A SEED SPROUTS, THE “CHILD” IS ASSIGNED A CODE (AN ALPHANUMERIC IDENTIFIER).
Artificial intelligence is used to predict which characteristics a variety may inherit from its parents, says Fernandez. This can help prevent the company from investing time, money, and space into a likely “dud.” It also can help breeders identify favorable genetic markers.
BREEDERS SELECT THE MOST PROMISING VARIETIES FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. THE REMAINDER ARE DISCARDED.
Breeders consider a variety of desirable traits, such as color, head size, and stem length, shortened growing times and high productivity. There is also a concerted effort to develop more sustainable varieties that are resistant to diseases and pests (requiring fewer chemicals to grow), require less water, and can endure higher global temperatures.
ON TRIAL New varieties of roses are tagged in Plantec’s greenhouses, where their performance is logged.
PROMISING VARIETIES ARE TESTED AGAINST A VARIETY OF METRICS. SUBPAR VARIETIES ARE CULLED FREQUENTLY.
Breeders are constantly developing new varieties and growing space is limited, so breeders aggressively cull underperforming varieties. Roses that are susceptible to disease, have low productivity, do not ship well, and have short vase lives get discarded. The investment of time and money makes it painful to discard a rose with potential, says Krell, but keeping subpar roses out of the market is critical to safeguarding consumer confidence in fresh flowers and ensuring the industry’s overall success.
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