In 1996, Qualitree incorporated as a small greenhouse project with a big dream: to grow exceptional plants and lasting partnerships. Thirty years later, those early days of planting, learning, and perseverance have grown into a thriving, innovative company serving growers and retailers across North America.

For our 30^th anniversary, we’ve reunited the tree from our original logo with the modern Q wordmark. 

The tree reminds us of those early mornings, dirt under our nails, and the satisfaction of a job done right.

The Q represents who we are today: a company built on experience, teamwork, and purpose. 

We’re bringing color back into our mark, just as we’ve brought vibrant, distinctive crops to life in our greenhouses. These visuals represent our story: past and present intertwined, growing stronger with time.

As we mark thirty years, we celebrate every person, partner, and plant that helped us thrive — and the new branches yet to come. Our roots run deep, and our gratitude even deeper.

 

Who We Are Today

At Qualitree, we know nothing happens without the right people. Our dedicated team has a passion for plants and for people that has enabled us to become one of the leading wholesale propagation experts in North America.

Qualitree began as a small greenhouse operation in 1994, the end product of a university horticulture project. Today, Qualitree closely resembles a Dutch-style nursery, with rail transportation systems, computer-controlled irrigation, and cutting-edge climate control systems.  

While precision and efficiency define our growing and shipping systems, relationships define our customer service. We believe that growing is better together, so we are dedicated to building great partnerships with our clients and offering the best shipping and customer support possible. We offer some of the most advanced order tracking in the industry, as well as end-to-end growing support from our expert team and our community of growers. 

As a team, we have a shared passion for excellence and are constantly encouraging and challenging each other to do a little bit better for our customers. The best aspects of international research and technology are always being implemented in our greenhouses and shipping operations.



After 25 years of propagation and growing, Qualitree remains committed to our founding principles of excellence, integrity, innovation, and collaboration.  Together, we can grow better. We’d love to chat with you today about your growing needs!

 

How It All Started

Founded in 1994 by partners Gary Neels and Tony Van Oort, Qualitree’s beginnings actually started on paper as part of the then-college-boys’ final assignment in their horticultural studies at the University of the Fraser Valley.

While still studying (and working part-time) the two young men decided to bring their dream to life and built a small 30 foot x 100 foot ground-to-ground greenhouse on Gary’s parents’ property. The greenhouse was filled that first winter with cuttings by working late nights and weekends and with volunteer labour provided by family and friends.

Two years later, the small company expanded into a larger greenhouse. Another expansion followed in 1997, with the enterprising partners purchasing five acres of property at Ferry Road in Rosedale, located near Chilliwack. It was at this time that Willem Neels, Gary’s dad, joined the company because, as Gary says with a smile, “Banks wouldn’t lend money to twenty-two-year olds with no assets and no cash.”

The five-acre purchase came with a ramshackle rental home and a dilapidated horse barn. The home was renovated into an office and the barn converted into a useable work base. Four greenhouses were constructed behind it.

“Those first few years, we were growing cut flowers at the Ferry Road property,” recalls Tony. “There were some bumps and bruises along the way but it wasn’t long before we were selling a lot of beautiful cut flowers under the Qualitree name.”

The partners soon realized that they wanted to move into the propagation business, meaning there was an immediate need for additional room for nursery production. The cut flowers portion of the business was phased out and replaced with propagation space.

In 1999, Henk Rozendaal joined the partnership and took on the role of sales and marketing. Henk’s strong ties to Europe and tireless pursuit of new opportunities combined with his love of meeting and connecting with people, was instrumental in getting access to many of the innovative products grown at Qualitree today.

After working at the nursery for two years, it became apparent that Gerrit Rozendaal, Henk’s son, could bring a new and much-needed set of skills to the management team. Gerrit joined the partnership in 2009 and, currently heads the finances and purchasing of the company.

The company now covers close to 100 acres of land with approximately 750,000 square feet (almost 17 acres) of greenhouse production area for its propagation and finished plant lines.

The company’s founding principles, those based on respect, hard work, innovation and collaboration, have carried through to this day and have helped ensure Qualitree’s success in an increasingly competitive market.