Yoder Brothers Has A New Name

"We continue to provide the same services and products our customers have come to rely on," says Bill Rasbach, president and CEO of Aris. "All that has really changed is the company name. Although the mum and aster genetics have been sold, we still know mums and we still offer them for sale, along with our other product lines."

Aris is appropriate for Yoder Brothers' offerings because it's the Latin word for "green." Aris Horticultural Services is actually the parent company name. The Yoder Brothers brand name was sold with the mums and aster product lines late last year to Syngenta, but Rasbach expects the brand name's legacy to carry over to Aris.

"Yoder, in the past, was the largest sales group for mums and asters in the marketplace," he says. "We're still the largest sales force for that activity. The people here are still the same, and the knowledge base is still here."

The three business units will, however, have their own websites, offering customers information on all product lines, including availabilities, cultural guides and technical support.

"As we move forward, we're going to focus our business on Keepsake Plants and Green Leaf," Rasbach says. "In regard to the finish products business, there's a lot of consolidation going on at the retail and grower levels. On top of that, the internet and the clubs are becoming more important players."

As that goes on, Rasbach says potted plants will become a smaller part of the market. Cut flowers, meanwhile, will take up a larger share of it.

"We see some fundamental changes going on in the demand side," he says. "I also think you're going to see more products for a narrower time of year with as low an energy input as possible. That's the future, and from the Keepsake standpoint, we'll try to supply markets from that regime."