East African Rose growers converge at DREA open days

De Ruiter East Africa (DREA) held a series of open days in the Month of October and November. The open days were an opportunity for growers in the various rose growing regions in Kenya and across East Africa to explore new DREA varieties and determine which ones would best suit them with regards to production, disease resistance and more.

DREA has showhouses in three different regions in Kenya allowing the breeder to monitor its varieties under different climates and altitudes to meet grower’s expectations. To accommodate all their growers, DREA held open days at their Thika Showcase, Naivasha Showcase (headquarters) and at their Timau Showcase.

Some growers started visiting even before the open days commenced as they wanted to spend more time with the team at DREA to discuss strategies, varietal needs and get a better understanding of DREA. It fits DREA's strategy to have more time with growers selecting reliable varieties any week of the year.

According to DREA’s Sales and Marketing Manager, Rohit Patil, most of the growers have performed fairly well since May 2020 the demand for flowers grew exponentially. Many growers even pointed out 2020 as one of their best years ever. Despite the unprecedented friendly run in the market, growers still had to deal with challenges with freight cost, freight capacity and higher cost of chemicals and fertilizers.

DREA is known for their wide assortment of tried and tested varieties as well as new ones with promising production and trade characteristics. Productive varieties like Zanta®, Mysterious®, Sunniva®, Born Free®, Comanche® & Epic White® have proven to be exemplary in terms of production and are well accepted by different markets.