Passion for innovation and collaboration
"As a lily grower you are working with a living product and you are working with nature. It blooms and it grows ánd you can steer it. That's very challenging, because a natural product doesn't always allow itself to be guided."
Growing lilies is the most fun there is! Our business is always in full swing; both the product itself and everything that comes with it. That is why we are busy innovating in all sorts of areas. We are developing special varieties to broaden our assortment, inventing innovative cultivation techniques, data collection, pioneering automation, smart packaging and original ways of communicating.
New varieties
Our search for new varieties to expand the assortment never stops. A continuous challenge; we conduct breeding tests with a variety of lilies. In this way, for example, the white double-flowered lily Bowl of Beauty arise. And the beautifully shaped Apricot Fudge. Special new varieties, with which we distinguish ourselves.
Innovative cultivation techniques
Ground structure preserved
At the base of every lily is good soil. Therefore, we are constantly trying alternative methods of tilling our soil. By turning the soil over less and digging it loose more, we work the soil minimally and preserve the soil structure as much as possible. This keeps bacteria and fungi intact and allows soil life to survive.
"What is the best way to achieve quality gains, we don't know yet. Work in progress!"
Recycling old bulbs
Our bulbs contain all the nutrition for a lily. Shame to throw them away after flowering right? That's why we recycle our bulbs. After harvesting, a milling machine grinds them with the soil and they are reused as additional nutrient soil for new lilies.
Optimize defrosting sphere
Before bulbs are planted, they must first be thawed. This often takes a week's time. For us, it is more convenient not to thaw the bulbs all at once. This is because then we have fewer peak periods during harvesting. So now we check whether the bulbs can be thawed in stages, and at different temperatures. What is the best way to achieve quality gains, we don't know yet. Work in progress!
Improve health
A lily remains a living product that can face all kinds of diseases. To make the plants less susceptible to fungi, bacteria and insects, we continuously improve the health of our plants. For example, with plant strengtheners, which give the plants firmer leaves. We also work with silicon; a mineral fertilizer that improves a plant's cell structure, thus reducing the development of fungi.
"By comparing the data with each other, we get more and more insight into what a plant needs."
Custom LED lighting
In our greenhouses, we are increasingly working with LED lighting. Besides that LED is durable, this light source gives different shades, different colors of light. Each color has its own function and each lily receives the right amount and right light color at each stage of cultivation. Thus, the plant receives exactly what it needs and can be grown faster.
Modern data collection
To measure is to know, so we collect data in our greenhouses. By comparing the data, we get more and more insight into what a plant needs. In the analysis we work together with Let's Grow, they have developed a system for us with a dashboard that gives an immediate overview and on which a year's worth of data can be looked back. Hence we can better predict what is happening and respond accordingly.
Track & Trace for the sphere
An indispensable computer program is Bulbmanager, with which we follow our bulbs as in a kind of track & trace system. From purchase, stock in the cold store, planning in the greenhouse to harvest. And with the collected data we create a tight planting schedule.
"Planting bulbs on your knees is a thing of the past for us; we recently started planting our bulbs fully automatically with the LilyMatic."
Groundbreaking automation
Fully automatic sorting machine
Did you know that there is a fully automatic grading machine that assembles bunches of lilies? The Furora processes about six thousand to seven thousand stems per hour. Bredefleur is the only one in the lily industry with this machine, which incidentally sorts much better than we do by hand. Three types of cameras (infrared, X-ray and color) select the flowers by length, number of buds, ripeness, firmness, thickness of the stem and overall quality. All our staff has to do is harvest and pack.
Automatic bulb planting
Planting bulbs on your knees is a thing of the past for us; we recently started planting our bulbs fully automatically with the LilyMatic. Employees no longer plant by hand, but stand on the machine. Each bulb is planted at exactly the same depth and in exactly the same way. A way of planting that ensures uniformity in the growth of the crop. Moreover, the LilyMatic works very fast!
Smart packaging
Alternative packaging
We are currently investigating alternative ways to pack bulbs. Normally we deliver the bulbs in peat, which extends the shelf life. But peat takes up a lot of space and is not available indefinitely. That is why we are now doing various tests to see if the bulbs can be stored without peat.
"Our flowers are available 24/7 in our shop. The lilies you see in the shop are actually for sale."
EXPORT BOX FOR DISTANT DESTINATIONS
Did you know that a special export box has been developed for distant destinations? The so-called Quality Box, which is prepared for shipment at the nursery. This is done so carefully that the box needs no further handling until the final destination. So if you order such a box from abroad, the product is guaranteed to arrive at its destination in good condition.
Original communication
24/7 lily webshop
Our flowers are available 24/7 in our shop. The lilies you see in the shop are actually for sale. Super convenient for florists: they order through their suppliers directly from our stock and therefore do not keep stock themselves.
Platform for creation
Every month we choose a Bredefleur Friend (BFF): a florist who has gotten creative with our flowers. Florists who participate receive the newest and most innovative lilies. This way we give lily lovers a stage and space to get inspired with our flowers.
