HORTUS Seeds of CACTACEAE succulent plants - very rare - giant - Selected - Hortus Seeds - High Germinability - Rare Seeds

HORTUS SEEDS
The Hortus brand was born together with our company, and today it is one of its most famous and complete incarnations, as well as one of the most extensive assortments of varieties and types of seeds available in the specialized market. The Hortus brand, marketed within the traditional channel, is composed of the following lines:

• GRAN RACCOLTO – Introduced in the early 2000s, it is a line of seeds with a very heavy weight (on average, a GRAN RACCOLTO bag contains three times the seed of a classic bag), in a large format (13x20 cm) heat-sealed bag. The GRAN RACCOLTO bag also contains product and cultivation information in several languages. Although not as extensive as the Maxi Busta range, the GRAN RACCOLTO range can undoubtedly be counted among the most extensive of its kind in the entire national and international market. The GRAN RACCOLTO range also includes a small range of special selections and F1 varieties.
• LEGUMES – The LEGUMES line of the Hortus brand is one of the most complete and widespread on our reference market: it is made up of an assortment of beans, green beans, peas and broad beans, available in bags of variable weight.
• SPECIALITIES – In addition to the standard varieties of the LEGUMES line, the range is completed by 16 latest-generation, high-yield legumes (beans, peas and broad beans).
• FLOWERS AND HERBS – The Hortus brand flower and herb packet is a large format, heat-sealed 13x20cm packet, with seeds packaged in a double packet and an extremely complete assortment (around 110 flowers and 30 aromatic herbs in the basic range)
• LAWN SEEDS – The Hortus brand range is completed with a line of lawn mixes and essences, to meet all types of terrain (frequent trampling, different degrees of exposure to the sun, low water consumption, etc.). In addition to the lawn mixes, sold in boxes and bags, there are numerous pure essences such as dichondra, clover, couch grass and others, sold in sachets.

THE STORY
Hortus Sementi was founded in 1992 as a commercial division of Suba Sementi, a seed producing company that was already one of the most established on the national and international market. Initially located in Cesena, it moved to Longiano (in the area adjacent to the parent company's factories) in the summer of 2000. In the same year, Hortus acquired the company Zorzi Sementi, a historic partner of Suba, and began to shape itself as one of the largest companies on the national seed market, especially in the traditional sector. Belonging to the Verisem group means that the size of the warehouse changes according to seasonal peaks. Within the HortuSì area there is also a department specializing in seed packaging, which HortuSì has been personally responsible for since the day of the merger between Hortus Sementi and Sipas Packaging.

THE LABORATORY
Belonging to the Suba group, one of the main producers of vegetable seeds at an international level, allows HortuSì to enjoy a 360-degree control of the product. The main discriminants that determine the quality of a seed are three:
• varietal purity, i.e. how much, as a percentage of the seed mass, is made up of seeds of the indicated variety;
• germinability, that is, the ability of the seeds of a given batch to germinate under certain conditions;
• varietal identity, that is, the correspondence between the seeds of a variety and the general characteristics of the germinated vegetables.
For everything concerning purity, germination (and seed resistance), that is, everything that can be obtained in the laboratory, we use numerous accredited companies according to current regulations. In addition to this, to broaden the spectrum of its expertise regarding the products treated, Suba has built an internal microbiological analysis laboratory at the Longiano headquarters, set up in the same building as the HortuSì offices. Suba Seeds has recently made numerous investments in internal laboratories, in order to guarantee increasingly accurate control of the qualitative characteristics of the seeds. The laboratory has been equipped with new climate cabinets set up to recreate optimal conditions of temperature, humidity, light/dark regulation, so as to promote ideal growth of the sprout and test any problems of germination, vigour, purity and humidity. In addition to these, the structure has a real thermostatic cell, located in a special building, where continuous tests are carried out on seed batches. A section of the laboratory is specifically dedicated to the isolation on selective and non-selective media of microbial cultures, such as coliforms and mesophilic bacteria, as well as the detection of pathogenic microorganisms. The laboratory, through DNA analysis procedures (with real-time PCR method), carries out identification tests for viruses such as Salmonella spp, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli. The seeds are then sent to the test field for verification of the varietal identity.

THE TESTING FIELD
It is important, in addition to respecting the purity and germination standards of the product, to have a way to check the varietal identity of the seeds and the correspondence of the final product to the characteristics of the vegetable variety that has been planted. Suba Seeds Company inaugurated a test field more than 20 years ago: it is about three hectares of land, a few kilometers away from the company, where the seeds also marketed by HortuSì are tested. The seed tests concern both the varieties object of the production, both the new selections and the own seed carriers, from which the production of future campaigns starts. In addition to this, the test field is an important opportunity to invite visitors to the company on a guided tour, to concretely verify the quality of our products directly in the field. Over the years, the use of the test field has intensified to the point of justifying an annual investment of over 100 thousand euros and the employment of four employees. What we get in return is immediate and concrete feedback on all production batches of our products, a real correspondence between the seed we sell and the product in the field.
QUALITY'
In view of the progressive evolution of the seed market that has oriented itself towards the professional and consequently the progressive crisis of the hobby sector, HortuSì has set itself the objective of consolidating its position on the Italian market and intensifying its presence on foreign markets. HortuSì's objectives in terms of strategy and quality can also be achieved with the direct collaboration of SIPAS and SUBA and membership of the VERISEM group. HortuSì's main activity is the marketing of seeds and bulbs. These objectives are also pursued through partnership agreements with companies in the same sector in order to have more possibilities of consolidating the wholesale market (and consequently that of retailers). The general management is aware that in order to achieve the objectives mentioned above it is also important to give guarantees to customers and suppliers on its organization and, therefore, has chosen to implement a Quality System certified according to the UNI EN ISO 9001 standard.
In this regard, HortuSì manages its processes in light of the relevant legislation and in particular:
• pay attention to any malfunctions of the organization
• defines and controls the customer contact and order acquisition phases
• defines methods for systematic management of product acceptance controls
• adopt a system for managing internal complaints and non-conformities and consequently reduce their impact on products and services
• ensures the continuous professional updating of both the Management and the staff in order to guarantee an adequate response to each customer request.
This objective is also achieved through meetings with staff, included in the training activity described in PG08 aimed at illustrating and explaining the quality policy. HortuSì is committed to maintaining the quality policy in measurable objectives and systematic control of their achievement. The Management ensures that the aforementioned policy is communicated and understood at the relevant levels of the organization. HortuSì is committed to meeting the requirements of the UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 standard as well as any mandatory legal requirement applicable to its organization. HortuSì is committed to continuously improving its Quality Management System. To this end, HortuSì deems it necessary to adopt a corporate strategy based on the following guidelines:
• Full customer satisfaction in terms of product and service quality;
• Reduction of non-conformities and cost reduction;
• Consolidation of the company image on the market;
• Acquisition of new customers.