Outperforming the competition with Gerbera jamesonii Joybera
Giuseppe Saracino, owner of Az. Florovivaistica Saracino G., was looking for the ideal Gerbera jamesonii for quite some time. Saracino produces large quantities of flowers at its 190.000 square meters greenhouses in the Latina region in Italy. “Uniformity within a series is very important for us”, says Giuseppe frankly. “We cannot afford irregular flowering and growth.”
Area manager Gianfranco de Leo from Schoneveld Breeding pointed out the extremely uniform Gerbera jamesonii Joybera to Giuseppe. He choose to trial this newcomer in the gerbera market. The results were astounding. “I find the uniformity in growing and flowering amazing”, says Giuseppe. Two years later, the whole gerbera production of Saracino is made up of Joybera.
Versatile Saracino
Giuseppe’s company has four locations. It produces and delivers a broad variety of plants, for both indoor and outdoor use. Think for example of Cyclamen, Dipladenia and Gerbera jamesonii. With everything Saracino does, quality comes first. The product has to offer added value in economic terms. This means Giuseppe is always looking for plants with a compact plant habit and uniform flowering to harvest as efficiently as possible. Besides that, Giuseppe wants his company to be able to deliver good quality all year round.
“Our customers expect and deserve perfection. We couldn’t guarantee them that,
it was time for a much more consistent Gerbera jamesonii.”
Lack of uniformity
“We worked with other genetics in the past”, tells Giuseppe. “The Gerbera jamesonii we produced, kept giving problems, mainly because of a lack of uniformity. The plants flowered at different times, which made it hard to plan work processes. In addition, the plant size gave too much variety.”
Giuseppe was just looking for a uniform and compact Gerbera jamesonii of top quality. “Our customers expect and deserve perfection. We couldn’t guarantee them that, it was time for a much more consistent Gerbera jamesonii.” Joybera is a compact and uniform plant. This makes it easier to offer all year round a large number of high-quality plants. The result is satisfied customers and economically added value for Giuseppe.
Switch to Gerbera jamesonii Joybera
Trialing Joybera was a big success. “The difference was visible immediately”, recalls Giuseppe. “All plants developed the same, they flowered at the same time and had a consistent plant habit. It was exactly what we were looking for.”
Joybera is known for its big flower count, the long shelf life and the uniformity between and within colours. During the trialing period, Giuseppe saw how easy it is to grow Joybera. “This Gerbera jamesonii is of exceptional quality”, tells Giuseppe.
He praises the fact that Joybera has so many flowers right at first flush. “This makes Joybera a highly attractive product, the plant is ready for sale very quickly”. The colours of Joybera convinced Giuseppe to switch. “This Gerbera jamesonii has vibrant colours. Orange truly is orange. Yellow and red, popular amongst our customers, are much more uniform compared to what we we were used to seeing"
“Right now, we have doubled our production”, says Giuseppe proudly.
First experiences with Joybera
Customers were positive about the Joybera from Saracino. “Right now, we have doubled our production”, says Giuseppe proudly. “We can plan our production much more reliably now and the quality we deliver has increased. We made the complete switch to Joybera.”
Secretly Giuseppe wants to keep the performances of Joybera for himself. “This product is so much better than what was out there all the time.” Asked if he would recommend Joybera to others, his answer is clear: “I really would like to say no, just to keep my competitors behind me. But being honest: Joybera is a top product. It is easy to grow and really uniform.”
Joybera and Saracino, match made in heaven?
Giuseppe sees a flourishing future for Joybera within his company. “I already increased my production and I’m not sure how much more we can do. But there is room for growth in the market, that’s for sure.” Giuseppe tests new colours of Joybera every year. “I have seen new colours already, even bi-colours and double flowered Gerberas. There is much more to come. Joybera is an interesting newcomer in the market.”