Back in October leading Dutch rose grower Arend announced that the rising gas prices were at a height that made it impossible to keep growing. A milder November resulted in a delay to their final decision but today (28/11/22) they have decided it simply isn’t viable and have announced that 30th November will be their last day of sending to the Dutch auctions.
Commenting on Facebook they said “The last weeks have been very uncertain for us as a grower. The gas prices remained higher than ever and we needed to make a decision if we would proceed our rose production in the upcoming colder months of this year. We decided to stop our production starting at the end of this month. We expect to be back in business in February but in the meantime will be putting our maximum effort into maintaining the quality of our crop to make sure that we can deliver the quality that you are used to.”
Arend was founded in 1976 when Nico van der Arend started as Rozenkwekerij Van der Arend in the town of Monster, South Holland, out of his pure love of roses. After four years, the company continued in Maasdijk.
Today – and under the guidance of Remco van der Arend, son of Nico and who admits growing is in his blood, Arend roses are grown on eleven hectares, spread between two locations in the Municipality of Westland.
Known for their fabulous Avalanche as well as the divine Black Baccara, this news highlights the pressure Dutch growers are under in the face of dramatic energy increases and will add further to the supply issues facing the whole flower buying sector.
Unsurprisingly the news was met with sadness and support for the company in having to make this tough decision.
