Bloemisterij Van Dingenen from Merksplas, Belgium, is expanding its 9,000-square meter greenhouse area by 13,000 metres. With more and more small players dropping out, these growers foresee a bright future. Besides chrysanthemums, the sales of which traditionally peak around All Saints' Day on 1 November, ornamental growers have been adding more and more seasonal products in recent years.
While outside two Romanian seasonal workers are harvesting and sleeving the last ball-shaped chrysanthemums, four other seasonal workers are doing a less common job inside the greenhouse: they are assisting in the construction of a concrete floor. We are visiting the floriculture farm of Filip (52) and Dylan (30) Van Dingenen in Merksplas, Belgium, half an hour's drive south of the Dutch city of Breda.
Father and son, the Van Dingenens are putting the finishing touches to the new construction of a 1.3-hectare greenhouse. The new build symbolises their confidence in the future: “More and more small ornamental growers are quitting, and to be profitable, you have to get bigger. Besides, my son is young, and you have to make room for young people,” says Filip Van Dingenen.
