| GrowerTalks’ 2005 Up & Coming
Businesses Company: Van Wingerden Inc. |
Van Wingerden Inc. has a lot of irons in the fire: a garden center that’s doubled in size each year, a plug business that’s earned a reputation for top-notch quality, and a family-owned wholesale division. What impresses us: that each of these segments is thriving on its own and reaping praise.
Like most places with a Van Wingerden connection, this Blaine, Washington, business was built with strong family involvement. Mike came over from Holland to work for his cousin, John Van Wingerden, in eastern Washington in 1979. “That’s where I met my better half (Feen),” says Mike, and he decided to settle down in western Washington, where his brother, Dave, joined him in 1980 and they began building a business. By 1982, it’d become a true family affair when their parents and siblings moved from Holland to the Northwest. “My dad packed along 30,000 sq. ft. of glass greenhouse from Holland. We built this with the whole family in 12 weeks.” (Dave eventually decided to strike off on his own and founded Pacific Growers.) Van Wingerden Inc. has expanded almost every two years, bringing them to 9 acres under cover (3.5 acres of poly and 5.5 acres of glass). They also lease 10 acres of greenhouses about 50 miles away.
“Plugs are where we’ve excelled in the past four years, selling through brokers to growers in the Northwest and across western and central Canada,” Mike says. What details go into a Van Wingerden Inc. plug? Since they grow in dark conditions in the Northwest, they’ve installed more than 900 high-pressure sodium lights. And they grow on wire pallets that sit 2 in. off the heated floor. “The pallets hold 15 trays and save us a lot of time moving trays from zone to zone,” explains Mike. During production, trays will go from the sowing area to the germination house, then to a patch machine, on to a growing zone with lights, and finally a hardening zone.
“Our team of growers, workers, and management in our plug division have been the main reason for our success,” he says. “Our team is second to none; I’ll challenge any cousin, uncle, brother, brother-in-law, nephew or relative to a plug competition.”
Mike, his brothers Dave and Steve and brother-in-law Pete de Vries collectively own a wholesale division that distributes and merchandises plants. “We sell all finished product through this division to customers in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska,” Mike says. Their warehouse—a 30,000 sq. ft. Venlo greenhouse—distributes plants from about 50 acres of greenhouse production. “Our team here takes care of all sales trucking and merchandising.”
Van Wingerden Inc. recently completed the supply chain from plug to retail by starting their own garden center three years ago. It has doubled in size and numbers each year; though, Mike says, “I don’t think this will continue at this rate, but we’re learning a lot as we go and are planning a lot more for it every year.” When we asked Mike about their main reasons for overall success, he told us they’re threefold: 1. Their upbringing to do unto others as you’d like them to do unto you. 2. The people they have working for them. 3. “We live in a great country.”