October 2023 - 18

BIG GROWER
... continued from page 14
American Color, Inc., began in
Orange, Virginia, with Van Hoven
relying on a strong work ethic, his
faith in God, and the unwavering
support of his family - wife Gwen
and children Brandon and Brooke.
" We started with an acre of
greenhouse on the hayfield, and
the idea at the time was to grow for
independent garden centers, " Van
Hoven said. " Today, it's 35 acres. "
Both his kids are involved in the
business today, carrying on the
legacy, ensuring American Color will
continue growing gorgeous flowers
for generations to come.
EVOLVING THOUGH
THE YEARS
While the early days saw Van Hoven
handle most everything himself, today
the company employs approximately
200 people, numbers that have
stayed steady over the last decade.
American Color operates 35 acres
of greenhouse and does around
$45 million of business each year,
delivering product to mass retailers
from Florida to Maine.
" Our target customers are
wholesale clubs and groceries up
and down the East Coast, " Van Hoven
said. " We'll also go over to Central
Tennessee. "
During spring, American Color
offers a wide selection of flowers
from Angelonia to Zinnia. In the fall,
some of the most colorful flowers are
grown, including asters, garden mums
and Montauk daisies. For winter,
poinsettias are most popular.
Of course, there have been lots of
changes in the industry throughout
the years.
" Greenhouses are ever-evolving and
the greenhouses of three years ago
looks much different than what you
see today, " Van Hoven said.
What American Color strives to
do better than anyone else is meet
18
OCTOBER 2023 BIG GROWER
American Color, located in Orange, Virginia, specializes in growing flowering
annuals, perennials and holiday plants.
customers' demands, even if an
unexpected big order comes in.
Van Hoven's business philosophy
comes down to treating everyone
fairly and providing the best quality
for the price.
" You just need to be fair, " Van Hoven
said. " In today's environment, you go
to a gas station where you're paying
$4 and two years ago you were paying
$2. So, if we're going to have to go
from $2 to $4 on a plant, we want
to be fair about it. We don't want to
be that company that's just looking
for an extra dollar without giving you
anything in return. "
When deciding on new products,
American Color's sales department
has a marketing arm that's always
looking for what they are not growing,
what customers are asking for and
listening to what breeders and brokers
are talking about.
" We look to see if it fits the bill
for our customer pool, and it's an
ongoing effort, " Van Hoven said.
" You lean a lot on what your sales
department is hearing. "
One area where change has come
is in the advancements of tech and
automation.
" We're fairly highly automated, " Van
Hoven said. " We believe in making
things as automated as possible. We
want to be hospital clean all the time,
which makes it easier to automate
things because not everything is in
the way. We want things to run at
100%, 100% of the time. "
Still, Van Hoven believes that
you have to weigh the cost of the
automation versus the job at hand.
" There has to be a rate of return on
automation, " he said. " We make sure
that that return rate is there by the
time the piece of equipment is expired. "
For example, adding shade
systems and curtain systems made
sense financially because it had a
legit payoff.
October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2023
