What Queen does

Queen® (legally A/S Knud Jepsen) is a third-generation, family-owned ornamental horticulture company founded in 1939 and headquartered in Hinnerup, Denmark, with 501–1,000 employees. The company breeds, produces, and globally distributes Kalanchoe varieties, other ornamental plants, and cut flowers through three operating units — Queen Flowers (B2C finished plants), Queen Genetics (breeding, IP licensing, and wholesale cuttings), and Queen Türkiye (Turkish production). Customer reach extends to commercial growers, wholesale distributors, retail buyers, and end consumers in over 75 countries, supported by wholly-owned production operations in Denmark, Turkey, Vietnam, and the Netherlands, and dedicated North American sales leadership based in Canada.

The technology base rests on 60+ years of Kalanchoe breeding R&D and an unusually broad granted patent portfolio covering interspecific hybrid methods, Agrobacterium rhizogenes rol gene transformation, low-copy R1 gene plant lines, cut flower longevity formulations, and packaging systems — protected in the US, EU, Japan, China, Brazil, Russia, Canada, Turkey, and the Netherlands. Physical scale comprises more than 120,000 m² of breeding and growing facilities producing in excess of 150 million cuttings and 35 million finished plants and flowers per year. Branded product lines include Kalanchoe Originals, RoseFlowers, African, WildFlowers, MoreFlowers, and CutFlowers.

Queen monetizes primarily through the sale of unrooted/rooted cuttings to professional growers, finished plants to retail and B2C channels, and cut flowers — a hardware-sales revenue model with no publicly disclosed pricing. GTM is sales-led and direct, operating through field sales to enterprise buyers, B2C retail channels, and digital marketing surfaces (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, newsletter). The competitive position rests on patented genetics, multi-continent production cost base, and a sustainability positioning ("Queen Grows Greener") aligned with UN SDGs 5, 8, 12, and 15 that supports ESG-gated European procurement. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the company is privately held with no parent, institutional investor, or public market references in the data.

Name

Queen

Legal name

A/S Knud Jepsen

Website

https://queen.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1939

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Queen® (A/S Knud Jepsen) is a third-generation, family-owned Danish ornamental horticulture company that breeds, produces, and globally distributes Kalanchoe varieties, cut flowers, and young plants to commercial growers, distributors, retailers, and consumers across 75+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ornamental Horticulture

NAICS

Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114), Floriculture Production (111422)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Greenhouse Floriculture (Cut Flowers) (AFAGAHAD)

Keywords

• Ornamental plant breeding
• Kalanchoe varieties
• Horticulture production
• Cut flower cultivation
• Plant genetics

Headquarters

HQ city

Hinnerup

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Plant and Flower Sales: Queen generates revenue through the sale of cuttings, finished plants and flowers of various cultures to customers in over 75 countries. The company operates multiple business units including Queen Flowers, Queen Genetics, and Queen Türkiye.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Queen breeds, produces, and globally distributes Kalanchoe ornamental plants, cuttings, and cut flowers through three business units — Queen Flowers (finished plants), Queen Genetics (cuttings and young plants), and Queen Türkiye (production in Turkey). The company supplies more than 150 million cuttings and 35 million finished plants annually to customers in over 75 countries, leveraging 60+ years of proprietary plant breeding protected by patents covering hybrid varieties, cut-flower longevity, and packaging systems.

Product overview

Queen® operates as a diversified horticulture company organized into three business units: Queen Flowers (B2C finished plants and flowers), Queen Genetics (breeding and R&D), and Queen Türkiye (Turkish operations). The company produces more than 150 million cuttings and 35 million finished plants annually across various Kalanchoe varieties including Originals, African, RoseFlowers, WildFlowers, MoreFlowers, and CutFlowers product lines. As a third-generation family business founded in 1939, Queen combines sustainable growing practices with innovation in plant breeding to serve customers in over 75 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Queen Flowers: Flower production and distribution business unit of Queen®.
• Queen Genetics
• Queen Türkiye
• Kalanchoe Originals
• Kalanchoe RoseFlowers®
• Kalanchoe African®
• Kalanchoe WildFlowers®
• Kalanchoe MoreFlowers®
• Kalanchoe CutFlowers

Products and services

• Kalanchoe Originals Core Kalanchoe interspecific hybrid varieties with 4 petals, representing the foundational plant breeding achievements of Queen Genetics, sold as cuttings and finished plants to professional growers and wholesale distributors worldwide.
• Kalanchoe RoseFlowers Kalanchoe varieties with more than 4 petals offering a rose-like flower form, sold as cuttings and finished plants to commercial growers and consumer retail channels; protected by utility patents.
• Kalanchoe African Kalanchoe laciniata hybrid varieties with 4 petals, developed by Queen Genetics for diverse ornamental market applications and sold to professional growers and finished-plant distributors.
• Kalanchoe African RoseFlowers Kalanchoe laciniata hybrid varieties combining African and RoseFlowers characteristics with petal counts between 4 and 35, sold as cuttings and finished plants to commercial growers and retailers.
• Kalanchoe WildFlowers Kalanchoe interspecific hybrids with 4 petals featuring wildflower-style aesthetic characteristics, sold through Queen Genetics to commercial growers and through Queen Flowers to retailers and consumers.
• Kalanchoe MoreFlowers Kalanchoe interspecific hybrid varieties with more than 4 petals offering enhanced and longer-lasting flowering characteristics, supplied to commercial growers and finished-plant distributors.
• Kalanchoe CutFlowers Kalanchoe cut flower varieties supplied to florists and bouquet producers, treated using a patented aqueous nutrient medium (EP3099165, CA2936568, CN106163275B, JP6301499, JP6721564B, RU2629222, US10932426, BR112016017365) that prolongs cut-flower longevity.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Queen FlowerscoreOthersBusiness unit of Queen focused on finished plants and flowers, with its own website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and newsletter channels. Serves as the consumer-facing brand for Queen products.
• Queen GeneticscoreOthersBusiness unit specializing in plant genetics and breeding, with dedicated website and LinkedIn presence. Manages R&D activities including partnerships with R&D Manager Kai Lønne Nielsen.
• Queen TürkiyecoreOthersBusiness unit operating in Turkey with CEO B. Sinan Pulat and COO Lars Korup. Features its own website, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram channels. Majority of employees are women.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Selecta one: German-headquartered ornamental breeder specialising in poinsettias, Kalanchoe, and potted flowering plants; overlaps directly with Queen on Kalanchoe breeding and cuttings supply to growers.
• Dümmen Orange: Global ornamental plant breeding and propagation company headquartered in the Netherlands with comparable breadth across cut flowers, potted plants, and bedding plants; directly competes with Queen in supplying cuttings and young plants to commercial growers worldwide.
• Florensis: European breeder and propagator of bedding and potted plants supplying young plants to growers; directly comparable in business model, customer base, and product categories to Queen's Queen Flowers and Queen Genetics units.
• Beekenkamp Group: Dutch family-owned breeder and producer of potted plants, bedding plants, and chrysanthemums; similar vertically integrated breeding-to-flower model and comparable European grower-supply footprint.
• Syngenta Flowers: Major ornamental seed and cutting breeder producing potted and bedding plants for the global floriculture market; competes head-to-head with Queen's Kalanchoe and potted plant offerings in B2B grower channels.
• Ball Horticultural Company: US-based horticultural breeder and distributor with extensive portfolio of flowering potted plants and cut flowers; directly comparable in supplying young plants and cuttings to commercial growers across multiple continents.
• Hilverda Florist: Dutch breeder and propagator focused on cut flowers and potted plants with patented varieties; competes with Queen in supplying cuttings to commercial growers and overlaps on cut-flower product lines.

Broad incumbents

• KWS SAAT: German-listed global seed company with ornamental flower breeding operations; relevant as a comparable publicly traded European plant-breeding platform though its core business is field crops rather than ornamentals.
• Sakata Seed Corporation: Japanese-headquartered global seed breeder with significant ornamental segment; competes in the broader floriculture value chain but as a much larger diversified seed company rather than a focused Kalanchoe specialist.
• PanAmerican Seed: Large global seed breeder (part of Ball Horticultural) with a broad ornamental seed portfolio including flowering potted and bedding plant categories; broader product range than Queen but overlapping customer base of commercial growers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1Wxf_SDl-dma7Q14SJ7Jiw
• Facebookfacebook.com/Queenflowersdk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/queen-knudjepsen
• Instagraminstagram.com/queenflowersdk
• Pinterestpinterest.dk/QueenFlowersdk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries3 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 Queen