van Hoekelen Greenhouses Inc. cultivates millions of flowers in Hazleton area | Dallas Post

Earlier this month, Alex van Hoekelen surveyed a vast indoor greenhouse space in his family’s Hazleton area business containing acres of flowers in varying stages of growth.

“Most people who see this process say they did not realize all the work that goes into it,” he said.

Each tulip, hyacinth and Easter lily at van Hoekelen Greenhouses Inc. must be nurtured and then snatched at just the right moment so customers will get the satisfaction of enjoying the not-yet-emerged bloom.

The pressure is on because van Hoekelen — marketed as the largest bulb grower on the East Coast — supplies flowers wholesale to supercenters, supermarkets, home improvement stores, drug stores and other merchants across the country.

“One day could make or break a crop,” van Hoekelen said. “It takes a whole village to keep track of everything.”

At home, many plant flower bulbs in the ground each fall and forget about them while nature works its magic so they bloom in the spring.

But a different indoor “forcing” process must be used at van Hoekelen to grow tulips and other bulb varieties so they are timed for availability to consumers this time of year.

It involves cooling to mimic winter temperatures and then heating to coax growth.

van Hoekelen’s tulip bulbs are imported from the Netherlands, selected from thousands of varieties.

Family roots

Alex’s mother, Lori van Hoekelen, is the owner and CEO of the business that opened in 1988. She started her career working at a New Jersey greenhouse.

His father, Cok, grew up in the Netherlands working on a bulb farm with his father and siblings and came to the United States when he was 16.

The business started with a greenhouse in Kline Township, Schuylkill County, selected because it was located by a cogeneration plant ideal to provide steam heat, Alex said. Now that the cogeneration plant has been dismantled, the business uses compressed natural gas to heat the greenhouse.

In 2000, the administration offices were relocated to a former dress factory in McAdoo near Hazleton. The following year, an additional state-of-the-art greenhouse was built within a mile of the original one.

The company also acquired an additional property for growing in Sorrento, Florida.

In total, van Hoekelen now has more than 21 acres of growing area “under glass,” Alex said.

A second generation of the van Hoekelen family is now in the business. Lori Bowser is in accounts payable and purchasing. Alex handles all aspects of the business. Most recently, daughter Lexie is handling internal systems.

Alex, 29, recalls helping out in the family business since he was 10, sweeping the floors and labeling boxes.

“I went to college, but I knew this is really what I wanted to do,” he said.

Expansive operation

Customized planting materials are mixed in a giant machine and then delivered through a chute for dispensing into pots or other vessels.

“It’s like a big cake mixer,” Alex said.

Tulip bulbs, for example, get their start in a mix of peatmoss and sand.

They also must be kept “sleeping” in approximately 45 degrees for about 14 weeks before they start sprouting, he said.

“The tulip bulb cooling period is important. If you undercool they will be ‘blind’ and not flower,” Alex said.

A cooling space also is carved out to pack the cut flowers, and they are transported in refrigerated trucks — all to delay the blooming process for customers.

A machine is used to squeeze the bulbs to remove them — called debulbing — so the stem length is maximized. All leftover bulb material advances to composting.

Workers in yet another space sort cut flowers by color so bunches can be packaged together in an automatic sleeving machine that processes 5,000 bunches per hour.

Speaking with pride, Lexie points out her brother has designed new packaging that walks customers through the flower care steps.

From January through Mother’s Day, 55 million individual stems will be shipped, Alex said.

Lexie said her father designed many features to improve efficiency and workflow.

In the greenhouse spaces, huge movable tables are used to “make working a lot faster,” Alex said.

The windows above are operated by computer so they can be opened and closed as needed — or covered with a curtain.

No breaks

It’s a year-round operation.

While the business is now immersed in spring bulb processing, work is already underway growing miniature Christmas trees and Christmas cactus (zygo) so they are ready the end of this year.

van Hoekelen is the largest Christmas cactus grower in the U.S., Alex said.

The work never stops.

After Mother’s Day, the focus is on spring arrivals, such as flowers in hanging baskets.

Then comes potted sunflowers, followed by mums from August through October.

van Hoekelen employs 250 to 300 workers, with the number varying due to busy seasons, Alex said.

Most employees have been with the company 15 to 20 years, and there are some with 35 and 40 years of service dating back to the company’s infancy, he said.

The business also relies on approximately 100 migrant workers from Mexico — a necessity due to worker shortages, he said.

Stressing this employment program is highly regulated, Alex said Van Hoekelen rehabilitated deteriorated structures to provide housing for these workers. He has received positive response from the community because the migrant workers shop locally.

“It has been an economic boom to the area,” Alex said.

van Hoekelen also supports the community through fundraisers, including sales that provide affordable plants to customers and a share of the purchase price to fire departments and other participating organizations.

Words of praise

Mary Malone, president of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, vividly recalls a tour of the van Hoekelen operation several years ago, describing it as “fascinating.”

“It’s not just a big farm. It’s so much more technical than that in order to have all the products grow at the right time to be in stores,” Malone said. “People may not realize the science that goes into the growing and the scale of the logistics when you’re doing an operation across the country.”

Malone also thanked van Hoekelen for its community service helping organizations raise money through flower sales and donating other resources.

“I’m here 10 years at the chamber, and they’re always among the first ones to step up when help is needed,” Malone said. “They’ve been around a long time and have done so much for the area.”

She also loves that van Hoekelen is a family business, similar to many in the region, saying they are “super hard workers.”

Malone is thankful another generation is continuing the operation.

“People say everyone leaves after graduation, but a good number came back and are making an impact and shaping our future,” Malone said.

Wegmans Food Markets is among the many businesses that purchase flowers from van Hoekelen, and the company said its merchants had high praise for the flower supplier.

Wendy Altamura, Wegmans’ Floral Category Merchant, works directly with van Hoekelen and said it has been doing business the company since 2008.

“They provide a great quality product, supplying fresh cut tulips to all of our stores from January through May. In 2023 alone, we purchased close to 3 million tulips stems from van Hoekelen,” Altamura said.

John L. Augustine III, president/CEO of the economic development agency Penn’s Northeast, said van Hoekelen was at the cusp of locating in a region that is now flourishing with economic development.

“The greater Hazleton area is one of the fastest growing regions in the country,” Augustine said.

Developers are planning to add more than 20 million square feet of new industrial space over the next few years, Augustine said.

“In addition, more and more manufacturers are choosing to locate here due to the proximity of interstate access to I-80 and I-81, and an expanding workforce,” Augustine said.