VeriFlora Certifies Two More Growers
January 30, 2008 Seville Farms of Mansfield, Texas, and Neal Mast & Son Greenhouses of Grand Rapids, Mich., have recently earned VeriFlora certification.
The VeriFlora label represents potted and bedding plants and cut flowers that have been produced in an environmentally and socially responsible manner while meeting the highest standards for freshness and quality. These claims are certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS).
Both Seville Farms and Neal Mast & Son learned about VeriFlora through a collaborative initiative launched by Ball Horticultural Co. for Wal-Mart aimed at identifying products meeting rigorous sustainability standards, SCS reports.
Neal Mast & Son’s VeriFlora certification applies to its complete selection of indoor holiday and promotional plants, as well as garden and bedding plants grown at its two locations in Grand Rapids. Combined, these two locations add up to about 600,000 square feet of production. The company has distinguished itself in a number of sustainability accomplishments, including an ebb-and-flood water recycling system. The company also is making strides using biological controls to reduce the need for fungicides.
“Environmental and social responsibility initiatives are extremely important to us,” says owner Jim Mast. “We believe this is the direction that everyone in our industry eventually will go. VeriFlora certification helps us communicate to our customers our commitment to quality management, such as with our team-oriented ‘walk arounds.’ Through this program, we make sure every one of our products meets spec.”
Seville Farms has earned VeriFlora certification for all its potted and bedding plants at the largest of its four facilities, the Mansfield facility south of Dallas-Fort Worth. This facility encompasses about 650,000 square feet of covered operations and another 300,000 square feet of outside growing operations. Certified products include perennials, specialty annuals, bulb crops, herbs and mixed containers.
Seville has achieved significant sustainability accomplishments, particularly in regard to energy conservation. Together with several other producers, Seville has established a rack recovery and distribution center in which it collects and redistributes shipping racks rather than having trucks make one-way trips empty. The company’s “cross-docking” initiative with nurseries on the east and west coasts also reduces travel. Overall, these savings in truck mileage help companies save fuel and energy, save money, and reduce emissions of air pollutants.
In addition, Seville Farms separates waste water from other water and siphoned into reclamation ponds in on-site natural lagoons and wetlands. The company also has begun to use biological controls and plants to introduce these practices at its other facilities. As participants in Wal-Mart’s Earth Essentials program, Seville uses biodegradable rice hull pots.
“The VeriFlora certification process is extremely comprehensive,” says Mark Clemmons of Seville Farms. “Fortunately, we already had undertaken part of the requirements needed for certification. Still, thanks to Wal-Mart, Ball Horticultural and the VeriFlora program, we’ve implemented additional beneficial measures.”
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