Fresh, colourful and versatile, that's what SV.CO stands for. The trusted brand offers a wide range of top quality plants for every season. And in this month, the greenhouses are full of poinsettias next to the familiar kalanchoes. A good reason for the OZ Planten team to take a look at one of its loyal partners.
A household name for 55 years
Arie Strijbis and Sander Verbeek merged their nurseries in 2006 under the name Strijbisverbeek. Since 2011 it is called SV.CO, this made it easier to pronounce the name internationally, says Martijn Vreugdenhil, commercial director at SV.CO. Partly due to a takeover of Boekestijn Potplanten in 2006, SV.CO has 55 years of experience in growing pot chrysanthemums. In the meantime, partly due to the collaboration with Kwekerij Vreugdenberg, it has grown into a company of 20 hectares spread over 5 locations in the Westland area. With a team of 70 permanent employees, they work hard every day on the cultivation of about 600,000 plants per week. These plants are distributed throughout Europe every day, which makes it a sport every day to fulfill this as efficiently as possible and according to the customer's wishes. This immediately characterizes the drive of the people behind the nursery. The right colors and products are continuously checked for each market, in order to always be able to match the supply to the demand.
Collection
SV.CO produces a wide and attractive collection of potted plants all year round. They compare themselves to a bakery: a fresh, colourful and versatile range every day. Artisanal produced and a special product for every season or holiday. The main products are chrysanthemums and kalanchoes, they have many different cultivars and the pot sizes vary from 9 to 23cm. The poinsettias are currently being harvested and the Primulas are on the way, which will be available from December. The other seasonal products are Lisi Lova (pot lisianthus) and celosia.
Mission
In addition to quality and innovation, SV.CO is known for its sustainable initiatives. A good example of this are the so-called air treatment units (AHUs). Cabinets with 'air hoses', the AHUs, hang in the facades of the greenhouses. With this, dry, conditioned outside air is accurately distributed in the cultivation department, so that the temperature and humidity are exactly the same in every corner of the greenhouse. This ensures that there are fewer quality problems. As a result, they can let the screens down for longer and they do not need to burn away moisture! It will therefore come as no surprise that SV.CO has had the most sustainable certifications for many years, including MPS-GAP.
