Costa Farms Purchases Bernecker’s Nursery

Costa Farms is expanding its customer reach and opening new markets for its interior foliage business with the acquisition of Bernecker’s Nursery, an interior tropical plant grower in Homestead, Fla. 

Costa Farms obtained rights to the Bernecker’s name and certain business assets and will continue to service its existing customer base of independent garden centers and interiorscapers who cater to “green” buildings, offices and businesses.

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Additionally, Costa will maintain production of interior tropical plants at Bernecker’s locations in south Florida.

“For more than 40 years the name Bernecker’s has been synonymous with superior quality interior tropical plants,” says Jose Smith, president and chief executive officer of Costa Farms.  “We now can offer our current and new customers expanded interior tropical plant solutions.

“Bernecker’s exceptional reputation with top IGCs and interiorscapers is a natural fit for us. We’re excited to reach out to these new customers and are committed to Costa’s business philosophy to be a dynamic and trusted solution provider.”

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Smith ensured a seamless transition for all Bernecker’s customers and a smooth changeover for its employees.

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Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Another one bites the dust. The homogenization of the industry continues. Such a shame.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Costa would better serve its customers if it improved the quality of its plants rather than try to be the biggest nursery. Some of the material being sold in Home Depot and Walmart with the Costa label leaves a lot to be desired. But on the other hand, the buyers at these box stores could use a lesson or two on the grading of plants. Many people in our industry talk quality as do the box stores but in the end it is all about price,and as a result the customer loses and becomes disenchanted. The box stores need to go back to having more vendors and insisting on selling quality merchandise.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

The box stores buy on price.Anyone who sales to them will privately tell you that. They tell the public different by insisting they buy “quality”. Its been the same for over thirty years. The names have changed but the game is the same.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

The quality of plants you see ios all over the map. Mostly junk with a few exceptional plants on rare occasions. The good stuff sells and the junk keeps piling up. I recently purchased a 3 gal Hydrangea at Lowes that was really nice for $22.00, not that cheap.
The rest of the plants would have never made it off of the truck if anyone knew what they were doing. It was all crap.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Volume and quality is an oxymoron, they are large enough and absorbing more of the market due to transportation control and not quality control of plant material shipped.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Right on the money! Ever since the big box stores changed from buying direct from growers to buying everything from 2 or 3 big brokers the quality of product they sell has turned mostly to junk. Price pressure forced growers to cut quality in order to play the “lowest price” game with brokers. What’s really upsetting is the consumer apparently doesn’t object to buying lower quality plant material as long as it’s cheap. What’s that old saying coined by P. T. Barnum? Oh yeah, “there’s a sucker born every minute.”

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

It’s not that the customer’s willing to buy lower quality it’s that they don’t have many options. If they/you happen to be in the store on the day foliage products are delivered then the quality is usually good. But from that day forward the quality diminishes until it’s on the “mark-down” rack. That brings up another big box issue, marking down plants that are obviously dead! I always try to tell any employee I can that it’s a good thing they don’t sell dogs! It paints a good image for them of a dead dog for 50% off – but it doesn’t change behavior.
Costa grows/sells good quality or they wouldn’t be successful enough to afford expansion.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

I read the various comments about Costa and I agree that their quality is up and down. I think that their expansion is not from their profits from growing plants but rather from their real estate deals. A lot of plants get thrown out or marked down at the big box stores. Costa only gets paid for what is scanned, so I ask you how many plants does one have to grow to make up for the profits from one thrown out plant. The Big Box stores and Costa are playing a dangerous game. What is Home Depot and the likes going to do if Costa has deal with a major catastrophe to their production areas or files for bankruptcy? On the other side of the coin what is Costa going to do with all their product if Home Depot decides to scale back their nursery dept? There is safety in numbers for the Box stores to have multiple suppliers as well as for Costa not to heavily rely on the Big Box stores. Right now Costa is riding the wave but it will only last so long. Just ask those at Hines, Monrovia and scores of other nurseries who thought they were golden. One would think in this economic downturn the plants Costa grew would be of superior quality. They are far from it and Costa actually grew a better plant when the economy was going full steam ahead. Engelmann used to supply Home Depot with much of their 4″ foliage and foliage hanging baskets now all you see is material being grown by Costa and it does not hold a candle to that produced by Engelmann. You have to wonder just what Home Depot is thinking.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Another one bites the dust. The homogenization of the industry continues. Such a shame.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Costa would better serve its customers if it improved the quality of its plants rather than try to be the biggest nursery. Some of the material being sold in Home Depot and Walmart with the Costa label leaves a lot to be desired. But on the other hand, the buyers at these box stores could use a lesson or two on the grading of plants. Many people in our industry talk quality as do the box stores but in the end it is all about price,and as a result the customer loses and becomes disenchanted. The box stores need to go back to having more vendors and insisting on selling quality merchandise.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

The box stores buy on price.Anyone who sales to them will privately tell you that. They tell the public different by insisting they buy “quality”. Its been the same for over thirty years. The names have changed but the game is the same.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

The quality of plants you see ios all over the map. Mostly junk with a few exceptional plants on rare occasions. The good stuff sells and the junk keeps piling up. I recently purchased a 3 gal Hydrangea at Lowes that was really nice for $22.00, not that cheap.
The rest of the plants would have never made it off of the truck if anyone knew what they were doing. It was all crap.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Volume and quality is an oxymoron, they are large enough and absorbing more of the market due to transportation control and not quality control of plant material shipped.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Right on the money! Ever since the big box stores changed from buying direct from growers to buying everything from 2 or 3 big brokers the quality of product they sell has turned mostly to junk. Price pressure forced growers to cut quality in order to play the “lowest price” game with brokers. What’s really upsetting is the consumer apparently doesn’t object to buying lower quality plant material as long as it’s cheap. What’s that old saying coined by P. T. Barnum? Oh yeah, “there’s a sucker born every minute.”

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

It’s not that the customer’s willing to buy lower quality it’s that they don’t have many options. If they/you happen to be in the store on the day foliage products are delivered then the quality is usually good. But from that day forward the quality diminishes until it’s on the “mark-down” rack. That brings up another big box issue, marking down plants that are obviously dead! I always try to tell any employee I can that it’s a good thing they don’t sell dogs! It paints a good image for them of a dead dog for 50% off – but it doesn’t change behavior.
Costa grows/sells good quality or they wouldn’t be successful enough to afford expansion.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

I read the various comments about Costa and I agree that their quality is up and down. I think that their expansion is not from their profits from growing plants but rather from their real estate deals. A lot of plants get thrown out or marked down at the big box stores. Costa only gets paid for what is scanned, so I ask you how many plants does one have to grow to make up for the profits from one thrown out plant. The Big Box stores and Costa are playing a dangerous game. What is Home Depot and the likes going to do if Costa has deal with a major catastrophe to their production areas or files for bankruptcy? On the other side of the coin what is Costa going to do with all their product if Home Depot decides to scale back their nursery dept? There is safety in numbers for the Box stores to have multiple suppliers as well as for Costa not to heavily rely on the Big Box stores. Right now Costa is riding the wave but it will only last so long. Just ask those at Hines, Monrovia and scores of other nurseries who thought they were golden. One would think in this economic downturn the plants Costa grew would be of superior quality. They are far from it and Costa actually grew a better plant when the economy was going full steam ahead. Engelmann used to supply Home Depot with much of their 4″ foliage and foliage hanging baskets now all you see is material being grown by Costa and it does not hold a candle to that produced by Engelmann. You have to wonder just what Home Depot is thinking.

Avatar for rob rob says:

I worked for Berneckers Nursery many many years ago 1980s ,. and I ran there real property deed threw the property & tax collector in Miami dade county burnickers still owns all the real property what I think costa got was probably some kind of business interest out of burnickers nursery or a lease.. they still own all the real property and buildings down there on sw 216 st as of apirl 2015 according to public records,. and burnickers nuersery is still owned by Robert g Burnicker according to the Florida department of state.. business registrations

so this might be them selling to costa and costa reselling the plants agreement ware as costa takes care of all the customer service and selling issues and burnicker just does the planting and growing .