RIPAUD PEPINIERES

What RIPAUD PEPINIERES does

Family-owned French nursery in Cheffois, Vendée (department 85), Ripaud Pépinières was founded in 1955 by Joseph Ripaud and has grown to cultivate more than 2 million plants across 100 hectares, with over 1,000 varieties spanning ornamental trees, shrubs, fruit trees, palms, bamboos, Japanese maples, niwakis (cloud-pruned garden bonsai), Australian tree ferns, and a specialized cold-hardy citrus range (yuzu, sudachi, satsuma) grafted on frost-resistant rootstocks. The company operates three commercial channels: a consumer-facing physical garden center (Jardinerie) in Cheffois, a national e-commerce storefront (Boutique en ligne) with home delivery and free in-store pickup, and a dedicated B2B division for landscaping professionals based at a production nursery in La Tardière. Its core technical capability is decades of accumulated horticultural expertise in sourcing and acclimatizing rare and exotic plants to the western French climate, particularly species that traditionally would not survive in non-Mediterranean conditions.

The business model is built on direct plant sales — both one-time consumer purchases and recurring B2B bulk procurement — priced on a per-unit basis with citrus ranging from €30–€130 and most other plants between €9–€100, augmented by volume discounts (10% for 10+ identical plants), a 15% in-store pickup discount, free shipping above €195, and gift cards. The company's primary customer segments are individual garden owners and hobbyist collectors (B2C) and professional landscapers and garden centers (B2B), with a strong regional base in Vendée and a national reach via e-commerce. Customers are sourced through content marketing (blog, SEO), organic social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube), email newsletters, and foot traffic to the physical garden center. Notable producers are Benoit and Damien Ripaud, two of the founder's nine children, who represent the second generation of family involvement. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and the firm operates without external funding, public listing, or known M&A activity.

Name

RIPAUD PEPINIERES

Legal name

Ripaud Pépinières

Website

https://ripaudpepinieres.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Family-owned French nursery founded in 1955 in Cheffois, Vendée, cultivating 2 million plants across 100 hectares and 1,000+ varieties. Serves individual gardeners via an online store and physical garden center, plus landscaping professionals through a dedicated B2B production nursery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ornamental Plant Nursery & Garden Center

NAICS

Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114), Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (444240), Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products (11321)

SIC

Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200)

akta.pro primary industry

Nursery Stock & Propagule Production (Cuttings, Rootstocks, Grafts) (AFAGAIAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Vegetative Propagation (Cuttings, Clonal Forestry, Tissue Culture) (AFAMADAE)

Keywords

• Ornamental plant nursery
• Garden center retail
• Rare exotic plants
• Landscaping plant supply
• Cold-hardy citrus cultivation

Headquarters

HQ city

Cheffois

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Plant sales (B2C and B2B): Retail and wholesale sales of ornamental plants, citrus trees, fruit trees, shrubs, and exotic plants through online store and physical garden center.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

RIPAUD PEPINIERES is a family-run plant nursery that cultivates roughly 2 million ornamental and exotic plants spanning 1,000+ varieties across 100 hectares in Cheffois, Vendée. It sells these plants through an online boutique, a physical garden center (La Jardinerie), and a dedicated professional B2B catalog for landscapers. The nursery is known for acclimatized rare species such as cold-hardy citrus, Japanese cloud trees (niwakis), Japanese maples, and Australian tree ferns.

Product overview

Ripaud Pépinières is a family-run French nursery and garden center based in Cheffois, Vendée (85), operating both an online shop (Boutique en ligne) and a physical garden center (Jardinerie). The company cultivates over 2 million plants across 100 hectares with more than 1000 varieties, serving both retail customers and landscaping professionals. The product portfolio centers on the online plant shop with over 12,000 references including agrumes (citrus), arbres (trees), arbustes (shrubs), fruitiers (fruit trees), olivers (olive trees), palmiers (palms), erables du Japon (Japanese maples), fougères arborescentes (tree ferns), bambous, conifers, vivaces (perennials), and ornamental grasses. The professional nursery division provides plants in all sizes year-round for professional landscapers. Additional offerings include gift cards (cartes cadeau) and a walkable nursery experience. The company is known for rare and exotic plant acquisitions from around the world, particularly cold-hardy citrus varieties and Japanese Niwaki trees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Online Plant Boutique (Boutique en ligne) E-commerce storefront where individual customers can browse and purchase the full catalog of ornamental and exotic plants cultivated at the Cheffois nursery, with delivery to homes across France.
• La Jardinerie (Physical Garden Center) On-site garden center at the Cheffois nursery where visitors can purchase plants directly, with a 15% discount applied to in-store pickup orders.
• Pépinières Pro / Professional B2B Catalog Dedicated B2B catalog and bulk-ordering service for professional landscapers, garden designers, and contractors, offering volume pricing such as 10% off orders of 10+ identical plants.
• Cold-Hardy Citrus Plants Specialty citrus cultivars acclimatized to survive temperate French climates outside the Mediterranean zone, sold to home gardeners and professional landscapers.
• Japanese Cloud Trees (Niwaki) Heirloom-specialist pruned niwaki (cloud trees) shaped using traditional Japanese techniques, sold to collectors and professional landscape designers.
• Japanese Maple Trees (Érables du Japon) Curated selection of Japanese maple cultivars sold as ornamental specimen trees for gardens and landscaping projects.
• Australian Tree Ferns Exotic tree ferns acclimatized for French climates, sold through both the online boutique and the professional B2B catalog.
• Large / Statement Plants (Plantes XXL) Specimen-size mature plants for instant garden impact, marketed to both B2C buyers and professional landscapers.
• Gift Cards (Cartes cadeaux) Prepaid gift cards usable across the online boutique and physical garden center for purchasing plants.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2 million plants cultivated on-site
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Jardiland: One of France's largest garden center chains with hundreds of stores. Comparable as a French retail garden center competitor serving overlapping B2C and B2B (landscaper) customer segments, though with much broader assortment including pets, DIY, and outdoor furniture.
• Truffaut: Major French garden center chain with nationwide stores selling plants, garden equipment, and outdoor living products. Comparable to Ripaud's physical garden center component but at much larger scale across multiple categories including hard goods where Ripaud does not compete.
• Botanic: French garden center chain with regional stores across France selling plants and natural gardening products. Comparable to Ripaud's retail garden center business but operating at multi-store chain scale with broader category breadth.
• Delbard: Historic French nursery and garden retailer with nationwide stores and own plant breeding programs, specializing in fruit trees, roses, and ornamentals. Comparable to Ripaud in French plant retail and breeding/propagation heritage, but at significantly larger scale with broader geographic footprint.

Direct peers

• Promesse de Fleurs: Large French online-first plant nursery specializing in perennials, shrubs, and rare varieties with delivery across France. Directly comparable to Ripaud in product mix (ornamental plants, rare specimens) and online B2C distribution model, though without Ripaud's own physical garden center or dedicated B2B production nursery.
• Willemse France: Historic French mail-order and online plant retailer offering a wide assortment of trees, shrubs, fruit plants, and ornamentals. Directly comparable as a multi-channel French plant retailer serving hobbyist gardeners, competing in the same e-commerce plant category as Ripaud's boutique en ligne.
• Baumaux: Long-established French horticultural catalog and online nursery selling seeds, plants, and gardening supplies to consumers. Comparable to Ripaud in the French horticultural retail channel with a broad assortment and direct-to-consumer model.
• Lepage Vivaces: French specialist perennial and ornamental plant nursery with both e-commerce and on-site sales, focused on rare and traditional varieties. Comparable to Ripaud in its specialist nursery positioning, rare variety focus, and hybrid online/physical retail in western France.

Regional players

• Meilland Richardier: Major French rose breeder and nursery producing own-root and grafted rose varieties with international wholesale reach. Comparable to Ripaud's specialist ornamental plant production and grafting expertise (e.g., citrus on Poncirus), though focused on roses rather than the broad ornamental/citrus portfolio.
• Pépinières Cerdagne: Southern French nursery specializing in Mediterranean and climate-adapted ornamentals. Comparable to Ripaud as a French specialist nursery focused on unusual and climate-adapted varieties, though operating in a different French growing region (Pyrénées-Orientales vs. Vendée).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZofQX9qyqZwwc_e-1PUeTA
• Facebookfacebook.com/ripaudpepinieres
• Instagraminstagram.com/ripaudpepinieres/?hl=fr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ripaud-pepinieres

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RIPAUD PEPINIERES