Rosa Flora Limited
The Bulks wanted to relocate to a place that would be ideal to grow a business and raise their children, Arielle and Joshua, and they were assured that Canada was the place. But where in Canada?
They chose Haldimand County.
In 1978, the Bulks opened Rosa Flora in Dunnville, growing and delivering flowers to wholesalers in Ontario. The company has since expanded to around 200 employees and with customers across Canada and the U.S. Otto and Corine had the foresight to recognize that Haldimand’s proximity to U.S. markets would provide a great opportunity to expand.
Joshua, Arielle, and her husband, Ralph DeBoer, are now the second-generation owners of Rosa Flora. Arielle says her parents’ decision to relocate to Haldimand has been an instrumental part of why the business has been so successful.
When she talks to friendly competitors in the flower industry, she hears gripes about the difficulty of working with local governments on issues such as permitting. It’s the opposite in Haldimand, she says—the County doesn’t hinder business; they do all they can to facilitate it. The available flat land and closeness to urban markets made Haldimand perfect for Rosa Flora, and the municipal support has been the icing on the cake.
The company’s name reflects that it started out growing only high-quality roses. Now, in millions of square feet of greenhouses, they grow and sell gerbera, mini gerbera, snapdragons, lisianthus, and stephanotis—all of which the company’s fleet delivers to customers in treated water that keeps the flowers fresh.
Rosa Flora has been—and will almost certainly continue to be—a prime example of the many prosperous family-owned businesses in a county that the families (and their employees) are grateful to call home. From quiet Haldimand, the company has built a business that competes on a global scale, located in a beautiful, by-the-water community with an authentic small-town community atmosphere.
Learn more about starting or moving your business to Haldimand County. Contact us at 905-318-5932 ext. 6331 or email: opportunity@haldimandcounty.on.ca