A Rainbow of Callas at Kwekerij Kallaland
Kallaland is one of Holex's loyal Calla suppliers, located in Voorhout, a village in South Holland. Jan and Ton Kortekaas run the company and grow Callas outdoors in the summer months.
We meet Ton Kortekaas in the production hall. It's a hive of activity; the entire hall is filled with machines, people, and carts full of colorful Callas.
Propagation and Cultivation Go Hand in Hand
Ton explains: “In 2000, we split the original company into two. One company for bulb production, which is Agriko, and one company for flower cultivation, which is Kallaland. We aim for large-flowered cut varieties in our cultivation range. We try to have a diverse palette of colors, although that can sometimes be a challenge. Yellow, for example, is a difficult color to cultivate, as is orange. Growing Callas is and remains a very challenging cultivation.”
As if he heard it, Leo Kortekaas, Jan and Ton's father, walks in. He tells us how it all started. “I always wanted to be a farmer. I could buy a piece of land of 3.5 hectares here and started my own bulb cultivation. First with various types of Tulips, Hyacinths, Gladioli, and Daffodils.”
A Story of Ups and Downs
“We had the house built in 1970,” he continues. “Look, here you can see what the company looked like in the past. If you look closely, you can see me and little Jan in the garden.” He points to a photo. When Jan got older, he joined the company. In the eighties, we grew and built a larger barn, but it became too large. When my wife became ill, I decided to stop. I sold all the bulbs, and we rented out the company for a few years. Until Jan decided he wanted to start with Callas. Of course, I helped him. We started looking at a greenhouse of bulbs, and one thing led to another. The first few years we treated the bulbs like eggs. Every year the company grew, and when Ton graduated from college, he joined the company as well. A few years later, we started a separate flower cultivation company, Kallaland, to house the flower cultivation.”
"If you look closely, you can see me and little Jan in the garden." - Leo Kortekaas, father of Jan and Ton Kortekaas
Producing Callas, A Multi-Year Plan
We walk to a separate part of the hall and see a stack of crates filled with Calla bulbs. Ton explains how Calla propagation works. “At the propagator, the cuttings are grown in the greenhouse in the first year. In the first year, a tiny bulb forms from a cutting. In the second year, it goes outside to grow into a larger bulb. Then the bulbs come to us. We plant them in the ground in the third year to grow even larger. In the fourth year, we cut the bulbs and plant the small pieces back in the ground so they can grow again. In the fifth year, we plant them one more time to grow them even larger. Finally, in the sixth year, we plant them and harvest the flowers. So, it's a cultivation that requires patience!”
"On peak days, we sometimes harvest over a hundred carts a day." - Ton Kortekaas, co-owner of Kwekerij Kallaland
Seasonal Product, But a Year-Round Job
What does the Calla season look like, we ask Ton. “We try to start production before the summer season begins,” he says. “We start planting bulbs in March, and if things go well, we have the first flowers by early June. We continue planting until mid-July, and we can harvest those until the end of October. During the summer holiday period, we try not to have too much production. We focus on the later months. On peak days during those months, we sometimes ship over a hundred carts a day. That's also why we have not one, but two Furora bunching machines.”
We walk back to the processing area to look at the machines. “And it doesn't stop there for us,” Ton continues. “After October, we have to dig up all the bulbs again! Not just the ones for flowers, but also those we are growing. This takes until about Christmas. Then everything has to be dried. From January, we start cleaning and sorting the bulbs by size. This takes until about March, and then we start planting the bulbs again.”
Becoming More Sustainable
And how about sustainability within the company, we ask Ton. “We are moving more and more away from chemicals and towards organic,” he says. “The most important thing for us and the Callas is soil balance. It must be as good as possible for the plant. If the soil is good, the plant feels good. The recipe for that varies by plot and even by variety. That's a real challenge for us. Callas have a cold cultivation, so we don't need heating in the show greenhouse. And of course, not in the field either. We do need heat to dry the bulbs once they are out of the ground. We have about 700 solar panels on the roof to provide energy. There is also a geothermal project starting nearby, which we are interested in. This way, we are making more and more progress towards the most sustainable business operations possible.”
A Truly Passionate Growers' Family
Ton and father Leo take us to the show greenhouse, where several varieties from the assortment are grown indoors. On the way, we meet Jan, who also joins us. All three men continue to passionately talk about their products. A true growers' family, with a heart for Callas! They are happy to pose for a photo among their products.
We have a cup of coffee together in the canteen, and then our time is up. Fred and I head back to Aalsmeer, while the Kortekaas family continues their work. It was another educational visit!
Callas in the Holex Webshop
In the Holex webshop, you can easily find the Calla selection via the main menu and view the daily updated offerings. Do you have specific wishes or questions? Please contact your Holex Account Manager.
- Larger Calla bulbs are divided for propagation
- On peak days, more than 100 carts come from the field
- The two Furora bunching machines ensure beautiful bunches of Callas
- Ton Kortekaas and Holex buyer Fred Hoogenboom review the products together
