President of Orchid Hospital-Chen Ron-hui

(by Zeng Wen-tien, Harvest Farm Magazine)

Enthusiastic in promoting public good, Chen Ron-hui is a modest, polite, and responsible person who spares nothing to participate in community affairs and development. He has also devoted himself to agricultural affairs and volunteer (tour escort) work. He has excellent leadership ability, and his achievements in the production and marketing of phalaenopsis and in the R&D of cycnoches, cataseum and mormodes have won unanimous applause from the orchid circle. His contributions in the species R&D and breeding are well-known in the orchid community around the world. He keeps up-to-date with the latest information to enhance the production efficiency of orchids. His efforts and endeavors in cultivating the export market and exposures in orchid shows worldwide over the past 8 years have allowed him to find a place in the international stage. In 2005 he won the Shen Nong Award. He deserves to be an example to farmers and civilian diplomacy.

After graduating from the National Pei-men Senior Agricultural and Industrial Vocational School, Chen went to northern Taiwan to develop his career. He got married and settled down in Taipei and ran a knitting factory. He suffered health problems later from too many social gatherings and too much overtime work. For the sake of his health, he decided to shut down the knitting factory. He returned to his hometown for recuperation and began to grow orchids to rekindle his dream of tending to flowers. Despite the strong disapproval from his parents, his wife gave him her full support. After entering his beloved orchid business, Chen discovered that there was an abysmal difference between interest and profession.

To enrich his professional knowledge of orchids, he enrolled in the Phalaenopsis Production Automation Technology Training Course organized by the Council of Agriculture (COA). Whenever he has problems with growing phalaenopsis, he will seek help from experts at the Tainan District Agricultural Research & Extension Station of COA.

At Jumbo Orchids, run by Chen, there is a precision-control greenhouse and 4 plastic cloth greenhouses with a total area of about 400 ping for growing phalaenopsis. The annual output of 40,000 pieces is still growing steadily. The quality control also complies with the international standards. The cycnoches has an annual output of about 15000 pieces grown within the mesh net house with an area of about 1100 ping.

The marketing channels for Jumbo Orchids include self-run export, export shows, cooperation with trading companies, agricultural specialty shows, floral markets, mail ordering and home delivery. It is a multi-channel marketing network. As a whole, most of the orchids from Jumbo Orchids are for export with the remainder for domestic sales. Major export markets include Japan, the USA, Canada and Europe. Markets in SE Asia, Hong Kong and China is also growing. Either through cooperation with trading companies or self-run marketing, Chen participates in 5-8 orchid shows in Japan every year. More importantly, he has won praise from orchid fans every time. For domestic sales, Chen distributes orchids through the farmer’s association system and sells products at agricultural specialty shows held across the country. He also publishes his achievements and displays his products at the agricultural window of the Taipei Farmers’ Association. Small transactions are delivered by means of home delivery, and channels spread across urban and rural areas. Moreover, Chen set up a bilingual website for Jumbo Orchids about 7 to 8 years ago in order to promote orchid sales by means of web-marketing. The website is quite popular indeed. After a consumer orders orchids on the Internet, Jumbo Orchids will deliver the items to them by the Speed Post of the Chunghua Post if the quantity is small. In fact, web-marketing has successfully promoted orchids from Taiwan across the world.

The orchid is the favorite flower of Chen’s. Currently, the sub-tribe of the catasetinae is the most special species under R&D and breeding at Jumbo Orchids, and 98 hybrids have been successfully bred, including 7 special artificial genuses that have been registered officially. It is estimated that another 10 artificial genuses and 30 species will be registered in the near future. To ensure the IP rights of these species is respected, Chen has applied for species registration to the Orchid Registration Office, Royal Horticultural Society, United Kingdom.

Chen’s dedication to protecting orchids has won recognition from many orchid growers and fans. He also built an Orchid Hotel inside the Jumbo Orchids for interested orchid fans and helps them take care of their orchids. Moreover, he also runs the Orchid Technology Enquiry Center and the Orchid Hospital to help orchid friends solve problems relating to their orchids.

After entering his beloved orchid business, Chen discovered that there was an abysmal difference between interest and profession. To enrich his professional knowledge of orchids, he enrolled in the Phalaenopsis Production Automation Technology Training Course organized by the Council of Agriculture (COA). Whenever he has problems with growing phalaenopsis, he will seek help from experts at the Tainan District Agricultural Research & Extension Station of COA.

At Jumbo Orchids, run by Chen, there is a precision-control greenhouse and 4 plastic cloth greenhouses with a total area of about 400 ping for growing phalaenopsis. The annual output of 40,000 pieces is still growing steadily. The quality control also complies with the international standards. The cycnoches has an annual output of about 15,000 pieces grown within the mesh net house with an area of about 1,100 ping.

The marketing channels for Jumbo Orchids include self-run export, export shows, cooperation with trading companies, agricultural specialty shows, floral markets, mail ordering and home delivery. It is a multi-channel marketing network. As a whole, most of the orchids from Jumbo Orchids are for export with the remainder for domestic sales. Major export markets include Japan, the USA, Canada and Europe. Markets in SE Asia, Hong Kong and China is also growing. Either through cooperation with trading companies or self-run marketing, Chen participates in 5-8 orchid shows in Japan every year. More importantly, he has won praise from orchid fans every time. For domestic sales, Chen distributes orchids through the farmer's association system and sells products at agricultural specialty shows held across the country. He also publishes his achievements and displays his products at the agricultural window of the Taipei Farmers’ Association. Small transactions are delivered by means of home delivery, and channels spread across urban and rural areas. Moreover, Chen set up a bilingual website for Jumbo Orchids about 7 to 8 years ago in order to promote orchid sales by means of web-marketing. The website is quite popular indeed. After a consumer orders orchids on the internet, Jumbo Orchids will deliver the product to them by the Speed delivery by the Chunghua Post if the quantity is small. In fact, web-marketing has successfully promoted orchids from Taiwan across the world.

The orchid is the favorite flower of Chen’s. Currently, the sub-tribe of the catasetinae is the most special species under R&D and breeding at Jumbo Orchids, and 98 hybrids have been successfully bred, including 7 special artificial genuses that have been registered officially. It is estimated that another 10 artificial genuses and 30 species will be registered in the near future. To ensure the IP rights of these species is respected, Chen has applied for species registration to the Orchid Registration Office, Royal Horticultural Society, United Kingdom.

Chen’s dedication to protecting orchids has won recognition from many orchid growers and fans. He also built an Orchid Hotel inside the Jumbo Orchids for interested orchid fans and helps them take care of their orchids. Moreover, he also runs the Orchid Technology Enquiry Center and the Orchid Hospital to help orchid friends solve problems relating to their orchids.