Wild Interiors R&D: Following Sarah Abroad
We’ve mentioned Sarah, our head of Research and Development at Wild Interiors, in previous blog posts (Wild Interiors — How We Choose Wild Interiors Plants), but just in case you missed it, Sarah is a pivotal asset to our brand. She not only works directly with our newest plant materials and with our greenhouse growers, but she also travels extensively to ensure that our Research and Development goals are fulfilled. Her latest travels took her to two global hubs of interior foliage plant material production--Guatemala and Costa Rica.
Sarah toured several operations that Wild Interiors collaborates with to source propagative plant material (a.k.a. plant cuttings and such). Because it is difficult to cover all of the details from Sarah’s recent travels in one blog post, we decided to dig into what Sarah’s goals are when she travels for Wild Interiors R&D and some main takeaways from her trip. Look forward to hearing more about Sarah’s travels in future blog posts!
Goal 1: Understand Supplier Operations
Understanding Supplier Sources
Plant material producers vary in structure. Sarah discussed two main types; suppliers who produce propagative materials as one company and suppliers who source plant materials from small, individually-owned farms, acting as a type of broker. She was able to visit several of the local farms that transport their harvested plant materials across rugged terrain to reach the central broker that in turn supplies Wild Interiors orders. Understanding these processes helps us to understand what could be behind order issues and allows us insight into the sustainability of our suppliers.
Understanding Supplier Techniques
Because Wild Interiors prioritizes quality, Sarah was on the lookout for clean and efficient growing and harvesting practices at each supplier location. This includes things like consistent tool sterilization and employee techniques. Because plants are transported to our greenhouses from all over the world, biosecurity is a key focus in our R&D department. Sourcing plant material free of disease and other pests is important to protect our current crops in the U.S and provide our customers with the highest quality plants.
Goal 2: Discover New Plants
There are many facets that go into the discovery of a Wild Interiors plant, and Sarah has the trained eye necessary to uncover potential candidates. She focuses on three requirements:
The plant must be unique, or in other words, a plant or plant variation that she hasn’t seen before.
The propagative material necessary for our production of that plant must be available, meaning that a supplier needs to be able to provide the propagative material in a timely manner and at the quantity needed.
The propagative material must be high quality, meaning that a facility needs to be able to produce the propagative material efficiently and cleanly.
The requirements are steep, but thankfully, we have an R&D specialist ready to take on the challenge!
Rewards
While the challenges are ever-present in Sarah’s job as head of R&D at Wild Interiors, she has the opportunity to see the world and the inner workings of the interior plant industry. She mentioned several rewards that she gained from her travels in Guatemala and Costa Rica:
Improved communication channels with suppliers
Enhanced understanding of different individuals’ involvement and personal company roles
Expanded knowledge of how our global suppliers operate and differ from each other
The realization that our business supports local family farms in these parts of the world
When working with plants, the rewards outweigh the challenges. Because of people like Sarah who are able to envision potential rewards, Wild Interiors is able to spread the love of plants across North America to customers like you.