Brookside Greenhouses placed in receivership; hike in natural gas in 2001
blamed

Gerry Bellett
Vancouver Sun

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Brookside Greenhouses of Langley, one of the major producers of orchids in
B.C., has been placed in receivership. "It's extremely sad for the family
and the industry," said Tom Mulleder, CEO of the United Flower Growers
Cooperative Association, the marketing arm for the industry.

For the past two years, orchids have been the most valuable flower crop in
B.C., with domestic and export sales of potted orchids being worth between
$15 million and $20 million a year.

Brookside owners Will and Marlene VanBaalen were unavailable for comment
Monday, but an employee who answered the phone blamed the sharp hike in
natural gas prices in 2001 as the cause of the company's problems.

The company has been in business since 1981.

Mulleder said it was a combination of factors which forced the company into
receivership. He said the owners had invested heavily in research and
development, and had opened their own laboratory to develop orchids.

"They had problems with the price of natural gas, but they got over that and
converted to oil. But it wasn't just orchids that caused their demise. They
were heavily into producing cyclamen, and the market for cyclamen has almost
died out," said Mulleder.

More at
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vanc...3-1D9A0EEBD134
--
Reka

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html



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That's sad, regardless of the reason. I've seen businesses go under, and
the ramifications for the owners are rarely easy to bear. Good luck to
them.

Diana