Ed van Paassen: 'It's become our specialisation'

Chrysanthemum Bacardi grower, Ed van Paassen

With a flower head easily reaching 10 centimetres across, subtle multi-layered ray flowers and excellent dye ability, Bacardi is a cut chrysanthemum that's become one of Dümmen Orange's reliable bestsellers. It's also a variety, according to Bacardi grower Ed van Paassen, that's being continually developed.

'We've been producing Bacardi since 2011. We were looking for a reliable variety and had heard positive reports about Bacardi. It's a more trouble-free chrysanthemum that is resiliant to rust, easily meets stem weight requirements and makes above-average scores for its uniform quality, good shelf life and post-harvest performance.'

Bacardi White
'We grow just one variety in one colour: Bacardi White. We've always had a preference for white single flowers. Even more importantly, we like to specialise in a variety for the long term. This is also what our extensively automated nursery is tailored to. As part of our membership in VannoVa, a growers' cooperative, we're dedicated to supplying high-end buyers with top quality products. As an example, we have a sleeving machine that sorts the Bacardi chrysanthemums based on bunch weight and flower head size and packages the bunches without damaging them. Together with the fact that Bacardi retains its fresh, full flowers during transport (Russia is an important market), this means that Bacardi can be sold immediately after transport. This is highly appreciated.'

For the long term
'We work for the long term. We always consider this when improving our efficiency. The market is always on the move, so we're on the lookout for stable factors. Bacardi has a major advantage: it has remained a variety with a number of unique characteristics such as its full, fresh flowers, proven ornamental value and many applications.'

Keeping on our toes
'But we can't rest on our laurels, of course. We wouldn't want to, anyway. You have to keep on your toes to keep up.' That's why we're constantly revising and improving this variety together with Dümmen Orange. Even more vigour, even higher uniformity, more flowers per stem… With each improvement, we work together and jointly decide which selection criteria we should apply to meet current demands before we start selecting. We often duplicate our selection process to arrive at the best choice. We have a common interest: a strong position for this variety!'