Sunny Hill Flowers blooming financial success

PASSION, innovation and a fair dose of Dutch courage have led to a blooming financial success for Victorian flower growers Rob and Mariske de Wit.

Petal power: Rob and Mariske de Wit of Sunny Hill Flowers among their lilies. Picture: Zoe Phillips

PASSION, innovation and a fair dose of Dutch courage have led to a blooming financial success for Victorian flower growers Rob and Mariske de Wit.

In a little over 20 years, the de Wits have transformed a humble family flower-growing business at Silvan, in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, into a multi-million dollar vertically integrated company that produces up to six million stems of specialist lilies and Dutch iris annually and employs up to 17 workers.

The Dutch natives, who moved to Australia in the late 1990s, work on the theory that creating opportunities, and capitalising on them, leads to significantly better returns.

They have introduced state-of-the-art, labour-saving technology to the business, which trades as Sunny Hill Flowers, carried out extensive research and development to determine the best varieties and identified and fostered key lucrative markets. These efforts have led to a significant jump in production in recent years.

In 2016 Rob, 46, and Mariske, 45, doubled the size of their climate-controlled glasshouse, bringing their area of protected cropping to more than five hectares, meaning they can supply a more consistent quality of flower year round and are able to capitalise on lucrative out-of-season prices.

Lilies account for about 80 per cent of production with a strong focus on speciality and seasonal varieties. “Because we entered the lily market when there were quite a few producers around already, we had to do something different,” Rob says.

Their main niche variety is the rose lily, which is pollen-free, boasts 18-20 petals and is likened to a waterlily. Other varieties include oriental lilies, OT hybrids and longi florum.

Rob returns to Holland every two years to attend trade shows and source the latest varieties. The de Wits work closely with Dutch bulb growers and each year trial 20-30 of the newest varieties on the farm.

The de Wits’ aim is for “a nice steady production” year round, with supplies ramping up for peak demand periods of Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas.

Their flowers are sold through premium markets in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Cairns.

It’s here that consumers have elevated Sunny Hill Flowers to the pick of the bunch.

FINALIST Horticulture Farmer of the Year 2018

SUNNY HILL FLOWERS, Rob and Mariske de Wit, Silvan, Vic

ON FARM: ROB AND MARISKE DE WIT