FORUM

Achievements

Our top goal at Ball is to provide the best possible product quality, selection and service to our customers, and we continually work to innovate in every way to meet that goal.  Ball was the company that first started to enhance flower seed and its Seed Technology Services (STS) is a leader in this field with proprietary priming, pelleting and coating technologies.  We pioneered the Ball Vigor Index®, our patented computer-imaging system, which is used to evaluate the seed vigor of many of the industry’s leading crops.  The Ball Certified Plants® program is a critically acclaimed quality assurance process that ensures that every stock plant for every Ball FloraPlant variety is culture and virus-indexed, meaning that every cutting the company ships is certified clean.  Ball Helix was established in 1998 to conduct advanced research activity for Ball Horticultural Company.

Our customers count on Ball to offer a wide range of outstanding products, and to that end we’ve made product development a major priority.  Ball has introduced many innovative, award-winning varieties to the world of horticulture like the Wave® series of petunias, Super Elfin® impatiens, Fiesta™ double impatiens, AngelMist® angelonia and Fanfare™ trailing impatiens.  Ball continues to be an innovator with products like the extremely successful Fantastic Foliage™ collection of seed-grown ornamental foliage plants, which are ready-made for mixed plantings in containers and landscapes.

To provide the ultimate in customer service, we developed WebTrack™, a state-of-the-art online ordering system.  It gives our customers live access to thousands of seed, plant and plug products and supplies, at their convenience.  Up-to-the-minute inventory information gives customers real-time product availability and assures they get what they order. 

Challenges

The challenges that Ball faces are not unlike the challenges the horticulture industry faces as a whole.  Seed and plant health issues are extremely important, and we must continually monitor product quality to ensure that every product we ship meets or exceeds our customers’ expectations.  Our very high standards mean that we must be very vigilant in production practices, product testing and evaluation. 

In addition, our customers feel pressure by discount stores and home improvement centers to not only keep their prices low, but to provide more service at the same time.  This situation challenges Ball as a supplier to be price-sensitive and to continually offer new products which will provide a premium to consumers and landscapers.

As it moves into the future, Ball will continue to lead the way with state-of-the art technology, cutting edge marketing programs, unequaled customer service and, of course, many more exciting, never-before-seen ornamental plant varieties!

Ball Horticultural Company was founded by George J. Ball, a cutflower breeder and grower.  He started the business of selling seed near Chicago, Illinois, in 1905.  His son Carl Ball oversaw the expansion of the company by acquiring breeding and production operations, including PanAmerican Seed and Linda Vista.  Under Anna Ball, third-generation leader of Ball Horticultural Company, many acquisitions have been made to strengthen Ball distribution globally; including, notably, the purchase of the Colegrave Group, which added distribution in the United Kingdom, Holland, France and Australia.  Joint ventures in Korea, Japan, Brazil and Colombia satisfy local growers’ needs for new and interesting ornamental plants.

Today, Ball Horticultural Company is an internationally renowned breeder, producer and wholesale distributor of seed, plants and cuttings of annual and perennial flowers.  Ball Seed, the original North American distribution company, has grown into the largest supplier of ornamental horticulture products in the United States and Canada.  Ball FloraPlant, which was founded in 1989, is now one of the leading breeders and producers of vegetative plants in the world.  Ball launched its Simply Beautiful® brand of easy-care plants to home gardeners in 2002.  A leading presence in Asia, Europe and the Americas has solidified Ball as the world leader in floriculture.

For more information about Ball Horticultural Company, please visit www.ballhort.com
For more information about Ball Seed Company, please visit www.ballseed.com