Ball Takes Over Tradewinds Hibiscus (and More) From Aris

Chris Beytes

Ball Horticultural Company and Aris Horticulture have announced that Ball has acquired Aris’ Tradewinds Hibiscus program, from URCs to liners to pre-finished and finished plants. The deal, effective August 3, includes all current and pipeline Tradewinds genetics, the breeding stock, Aris’ book of business and the Tradewinds trademark. It also includes some mandevilla and tropical ferns, helping Ball expand its tropical plant portfolio.

Ball FloraPlant will be handling the future breeding work on the lines, while Ball Seed will handle sales and distribution of URCs, liners and finished plants. They’ll also work with selected brokers for finished product distribution. Aris will continue to produce all propagation and finished plants for these programs at their Keepsake Plants location in Alva, Florida, under a long-term production contract.

“This addition strengthens Ball FloraPlant’s world-class genetics portfolio and positions us for continued innovation in the tropical category,” said Al Davidson, president of Ball Horticultural Company.

“We’re very excited about this partnership because Ball brings tremendous resources to the Tradewinds brand,” said Scott Schaefer, Aris’ president and CEO. “Their organization includes one of the industry’s largest horticultural sales teams, extensive marketing capabilities, and world-class breeding and product development resources. Ball’s vision is to continue investing in and growing the Tradewinds tropical product line.” GT