"The number of micro-growers/home growers is exploding"

While the rest of the world seemed to stand still in 2020, newly established Houweling-Dutch Plantin Ltd. did anything but that. Formed as a joint venture between two Dutch companies (Houweling Group and Dutch Plantin) in 2019, Houweling Dutch Plantin Ltd. (H-DP) is an Ontario-based company currently specializing in hygiene, coir substrates, fertilizers, and LED lighting. In 2020, H-DP experienced 500% growth, according to Jake Houweling, Sales Manager for the company.

New logo 
The company is poised to continue this growth in 2021 and is currently working to rebrand itself, which will begin with the implementation of a new logo. The new logo, pictured below, will help the company to establish brand recognition in the North American market. Furthermore, H-DP will be launching its new website in the coming months.

Houweling-Dutch Plantin Ltd. is also positioning itself to enter the retail market and begin serving a wider variety of growers. According to Jake, H-DP is seeing opportunities across the global agri-food sector and believes that its products can be used across horticultural and agricultural sectors alike, whether the operations are large or small.

Commercial, large-scale growers
“In Canada and the United States, the number of micro-growers/home growers is exploding but most suppliers cater only to commercial, large-scale growers. H-DP will continue serving large-scale operations; but we do not intend on turning a blind eye to this trend,” explains Jake.

Houweling-Dutch Plantin Ltd. will begin its foray into the retail market by introducing its line of high-quality coco coir products to small-scale growers and the consumer market, meaning that these substrates would be widely available for both commercial and non-commercial production. These coir products, called Grow.in., will be shipping to Canada within the next few months.

Aside from rebranding and retail market penetration, H-DP is also eager to expand its product offering and continue building relationships with distribution markets to ensure the accessibility of its products.

“It’s exciting to see H-DP go from a company I believed in turn into a company that growers believe in. When sitting down with the shareholders in the Netherlands, we would always say: ‘We hope to build something great,’ and now we can say: ‘We have built something great.’”