GRAŻYNA ZAPRZAŁEK

The colorful and fragrant center that you run has earned a great deal of renown and prestige abroad. Why?
The Experimental Center of Floriculture (KZD) is a unique facility among others of its kind. You could say that the center in Nowy Dwór represents the beginning of Polish nurseries, since from its very inception the facility was unique. It was created by horticulturist Prof. Szczepan Pieniążek, well-known both in Poland and around the world, who established the Institute of Pomology and Floriculture in Skierniewice 52 years before. I have a great deal of respect for what he has done for Polish horticulture. Prof. Pieniążek hired me to my first job and I remember him saying that his greatest dream was for a kilogram of apples to cost as much as a kilogram of bread and for people to eat large quantities of fruit. Those beautiful visions have now become a reality.
In Nowy Dwór Prof. Pieniążek established KZD on the basis of the State Farm located there as an experimental facility for scientists in Skierniewice, whose knowledge and research have and continue to be put into practice. It is precisely due to this successful symbiosis that our center in Nowy Dwór is famous for high quality, beautiful and hardy decorative plants. This is an essential element of the renown and prestige of KZD. Production was initially launched at the center with bulbous plants. Beet fields were transformed into fields of blooming tulips and lilies. Tulip and Lilly bulbs are also exported to Western countries such as Holland. At the same time, we were working consistently on production, research connected with horticulture and diverse varieties of plants, bushes and decorative trees. The plants produced in Nowy Dwór are gaining increasing number of buyers in Poland and abroad. The history of our facility clearly demonstrates that Nowy Dwór was the cradle of an excellently prepared nursery staff. Many talented producers of decorative plants once worked in Nowy Dwór as interns and to gain professional experience.
In December 2004, the KZD Institute of Pomology and Floriculture – Nowy Dwór Sp. z o.o. was the first and the only nursery in Poland to obtain a quality systems certificate for the production and sale of decorative nursery materials – ISO 9001 and 2000. These are integral elements that add to our fame and prestige. This is why KZD has enjoyed such a good reputation for so many years. We take care to strengthen that reputation since a solid trademark on the market translates into good economic results. Changes in the management system lasted a little longer and it was necessary to motivate and persuade the entire personnel. Fortunately, we passed the test with flying colors and in record time. This confirms that we are on the right path.

Your office contains many competition awards, statuettes, diplomas and other signs of recognition. Which of them have the greatest significance?
It is difficult to order them in terms of importance. The first cups and statuettes are signs of recognition earned during the Poznań Fair. There are also medals, mainly gold for various accomplishments, including for the composition and display of our decorative bushes. Our employees value those awards and distinctions that have – we hope – helped us to exist on the market of the united Europe. This is how we recognize the certificate and statuette Europrodukt 2002 for raising plants and bushes of the highest quality. Quality can be determined on the basis of guidelines formulated by the Union of Polish Horticulturists as well as according to knowledge gained through the art of gardening. We value the diploma we were given by the Committee for European Integration in 2002. In 2003 our facility earned the Malopolska region’s prestigious award, the Tiger of the Economy statuette. This competition has been organized for several years by the editorial office of the Wieści biweekly magazine.
In June of last year, we received a silver medal from the Chapter of the Academy of Polish Success for high quality products as well as a significant position on the market for decorative plant producers.
Another important distinction for us was earned at the international exhibition in Kiev – the diploma for high quality production.

What does KZD Nowy Dwór produce and what are its specializations?
At the moment the entire area of our farm covers 138 hectares, of which 21 ha is used to cultivate plants in containers.
Our current production at KZD involves millions of deciduous and coniferous trees and bushes of the highest quality in an assortment that is consistently expanding. We produce over 230 species and varieties of coniferous and deciduous bushes – both potted and planted, more than 80 species and varieties of potted trees, approximately 300 species and varieties of perennials as well as azaleas, creepers and rhododendrons. However, our specialty at Nowy Dwór is the production of coniferous bushes and trees such as thuyas, spruce, yew trees, junipers, cypress and dwarf mountain pines.
I would like to add that 95 percent of production in Nowy Dwór is based on Polish raw materials, products and components.

What new products in decorative elements can we expect to appear at your center this year?
We will certainly expand the assortment produced to date. However, new varieties of plants, particularly deciduous, will also appear.
In light of the considerable interest expressed by our foreign and Polish partners in our grafts of coniferous trees and plants, we launched the production of trees for landscaping and parks on an area of 1.5 ha last year. This production will be systematically increased.

What is trendy right now on the market for decorative plants?
In line with current trends, basic coniferous varieties (bushes used in hedges) sell like crazy. However, for a few years we have observed greater interest in deciduous bushes in Poland, so we also want to respond to this interest. Right now home gardens in Poland are growing in popularity. In many villages that were previously neglected, many beautiful indoor gardens are being established. People are looking for plant and flower novelties and are also beginning to express an interest in Japanese gardens. Hence the popularity of dwarf varieties. We produce these “pearls” and can offer them to our clients.
A growing number of wealthy individuals are building villas and residences. They want to be surrounded by beautiful flowers, bushes and trees, plants that create a friendly atmosphere for residents. Our task is to supply them with these plants.

Production is one thing and sales are another. How do you organize the sale of your products?
Product sales at KZD are based on three segments: wholesale, retail and export. Wholesales are addressed to gardening centers, city offices, large firms, apartment associations and companies involved in landscaping and the design of green areas. Retail sales take place in associated outlets run by companies on the basis of special organizational-financial conditions and managed by Nowy Dwór. There are more than 20 of these outlets, with locations in Słubice, Augustów, Częstochowa, Łowicz and Rzeszów, among others. I would like to add that we are trying to transform these associated retail outlets into gardening centers. Exports account for more than 50 percent of our turnover and go mainly to Russia and other former Soviet Republics as well as to Finland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Romania, Norway and Hungary. Annual turnover amounts to an average of about zl.7.5 million.
The company’s trademark allows KZD to participate successfully in annual events for specialists and fairs such as Zieleń to życie (Green is life) and the Polagra fair in Poznań.

It has been one year since Poland entered the EU. How has this benefited ZDK in Nowy Dwór?
For the center, its internal organization and operation, Poland’s entry into the EU did not result in any major changes. Of course we have many more contacts with similar nurseries from Germany, Holland and Belgium, who visit us frequently. However, more concrete forms of contact or cooperation did not develop. These centers are more preoccupied with conquering new markets and selling their products in Poland. Because we have products to sell, we are not interested in this form of cooperation. That doesn’t mean that this is a permanent trend. The massive purchase of nursery materials by Russians in Poland, including from our center, will lead to mutually beneficial forms of activity with German, Dutch and Belgian firms. Bushes are trees sell relatively quickly, but the ones we plant to replace them grow slowly.
My bushes and flowers decorate the residence of the Russian President, but have not yet reached the Presidential Palace in Warsaw and that’s a shame…

The factory over which you preside conducts a wide range of charity, social and educational campaigns…
KZD has conducted a wide variety of social campaigns for years – first and foremost for children. We help healthy children to learn about and gain an appreciation for the beauty of their country by helping to establish gardens for learning purposes and by landscaping and designing green areas near schools. Handicapped and sick children benefit from financial aid as well as our participation in various campaigns conducted by aid foundations through which children are given funds. Our social activities also involve establishing green areas for social welfare homes as well as decorating for various charity, cultural and sport events. Our archives contain numerous thank-you cards and letters from children for the help we have provided.