Genviv – Innovation that generates value

By:  Genviv Team

The genetic breeding programs in floriculture increasingly incorporate performance-related variables. Evaluating a new variety today can go beyond aesthetics to include its behavior in production, postharvest, transport, marketing, and end-consumer use. Genviv explains how it integrates these factors into its selection program and its vision for the evolution of floral genetic breeding.

INNOVATION IN TODAY'S FLORICULTURE

1. How has the concept of innovation in floriculture evolved in recent years, and what does it mean for Genviv?

Growing connectivity between markets, social media, and generational shifts among consumers and the workforce have changed preferences and marketing dynamics.

As breeders, we understand innovation as going beyond hybridization: we look for varieties that respond to the production and marketing chain across three dimensions. Agronomically: productivity, tolerance to pests and diseases, stem length, bud size, and vase life. Logistically: packaging, behavior under temperature variation, and resistance over long transport routes. Commercially: color, shape, and appearance according to each market.

At Genviv, we do not commercially release varieties that fail to pass evaluation in all three areas, even if they excel in one, in order to reduce the risk of developing visually appealing varieties with insufficient productive or commercial performance.

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THE GENETIC BREEDING PROCESS

2. What characteristics does Genviv prioritize when developing a new variety?

Consistency is paramount: traits must remain stable at every evaluation stage to advance in the process. In later stages, we compare new materials with market reference varieties grown under equivalent conditions to confirm whether observed differences hold up. Standardized postharvest evaluations are equally essential, since performance throughout the chain and the end consumer's experience must show the same consistency.

3. How do you balance aesthetic attributes with traits like vase life, resistance, and consistency?

This balance is assessed across several cycles of the selection process. When we identify a material with distinctive aesthetic traits — a particular bloom opening, an uncommon color, or a distinct floral pattern — we subject it to the same agronomic and postharvest evaluation protocols as all other materials. If it fails to meet the determining parameters, it does not advance in the program, regardless of the interest it may have generated.

VALUE FOR THE SUPPLY CHAIN

4. How do high-performing varieties benefit growers?

Each farm operates within its own production and commercial reality, serving markets with specific requirements. A variety must therefore meet both those commercial demands and the farm's production conditions.

When a variety combines the required aesthetic traits with agronomic behavior that allows for efficient cost management, it can contribute to the crop's economic performance. Some production systems measure this through indicators such as USD/m²/year. For us, a variety's value should not be measured solely by market acceptance, but also by its ability to perform consistently within each farm's production model.

5. What advantages do these varieties offer importers, wholesalers, florists, and supermarkets?

Postharvest evaluation begins in the second stage of our process, mainly analyzing flower opening, color, and vase life. In the third stage and in semi-commercial validation, we add further postharvest and logistical parameters — hydration protocols, rotation periods, and behavior during transport — to approximate real conditions in the distribution chain.

This addresses a concrete industry need: a longer shelf life extends the available window for storage, distribution, display, and sale. That's why we look for varieties that combine the demanded aesthetic traits with postharvest behavior suited to transport and marketing.

6. What impact do these improvements have on the end consumer's experience?

We aim for consumers to receive a flower that retains the aesthetic traits for which it was selected, along with good vase performance even under variable home care — such as how often the water is changed or stems are trimmed. That's why we consider longevity and the ability to maintain appearance with simple care to be relevant selection attributes.

RELIABILITY, EFFICIENCY, AND SUSTAINABILITY

7. How can genetic breeding contribute to a more efficient and sustainable industry?

By developing productive varieties with greater tolerance to certain pests and diseases, which can reduce the need for phytosanitary interventions depending on growing conditions and each producer's protocols.

It is also key to work on varieties with consistent postharvest behavior and lower susceptibility to losses during storage, transport, and marketing — incorporating efficiency and sustainability criteria from production through to the consumer, including lower-impact alternatives when technical conditions allow.

8. What role does consistency play in today's commercial programs?

Consistency is essential in commercial programs that require defined specifications for quality, availability, and longevity, since variation makes planning difficult for growers and other supply-chain participants. That's why we seek varieties with phenotypic stability, maintaining shape and color within defined parameters, so customers have a clear expectation of the product they will receive over time.

LOOKING AHEAD

9. What trends do you see defining the next generation of floral genetics?

Sustainability will continue shaping the criteria for developing new varieties, alongside growing interest in floral offerings connected to natural elements in everyday spaces.

Aesthetically, classic forms coexist with garden-style openings, and in color there is demand for both bright, solid tones and pastel palettes and bicolor combinations. We don't see these trends as a single direction: markets are diverse and evolve quickly, so we maintain ongoing contact with the industry — including participation in international trade shows — to compare trends and guide our breeding program.

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10. If you could leave the floral industry with a message about the future of genetic breeding, what would it be?

Floriculture encompasses a wide diversity of markets, production systems, and needs. As breeders, we aim to develop varieties that respond to that diversity, while recognizing that our own perspectives can introduce bias into how we interpret the market.

That's why ongoing dialogue with growers, propagators, marketers, importers, wholesalers, florists, and other supply-chain participants is essential — it allows us to receive feedback and adjust our innovation processes. For us, genetic breeding doesn't end with the release of a new variety: it continues in how that variety is grown, transported, marketed, and ultimately reaches the consumer.