GONE are the days when souvenirs given to guests during weddings and other special occasions are figurines or small inanimate objects. The new trend is giving away small cactus or succulents as souvenirs and tokens.
In Davao City, Arleen Gumapac, owner of Davao Cactus and Succulent, had turned a hobby into a business after a friend had given her a succulent and which she nurtured and expanded in her own home. She only ventured into the business this year but had been fond of plants ever since.
“Succulents are easy to grow because you have a lot of ways to propagate it. We can do cuttings. It depends, really on how the growers manage,” Gumapac said.
She said she believes succulents are currently in demand because of their unique features especially the flowering ones. Although wedding season is usually on the months of June and December, Gumapac said almost every week they have events to cater to. If not weddings, their cactus and succulents are often used for birthdays, debuts, and company tokens for retiring employees.
Succulents, in general, look like small plastic plants but when looked at closer are actually real and alive. Gumapac said this unique feature may be one of the reasons succulents are very much liked by people especially for their special events.
In her garden, she grows a variety of succulents among these are rose cabbage, white zebra, black prince, agavoides, perlevon, portulaca, jade, jadelet, rondo, and painted lady. She said she is able to sell for as low as P65 to as high as P2,500 depending on the variety and the size of the succulents. Since most of her buyers use them for special events, they usually buy in bulk.
Some of her clients order as early as two months before the event to allow her enough time to grow and develop the plants.
“I also post on my Facebook page tips and ways on how to grow these succulents to guide my buyers and those interested to raise these plants. If they directly inquire from me, I also answer them, on how they should grow their plants,” she said.
Her Facebook page "Davao Cactus and Succulent" already have more than 3,000 likes and she has been catering to clients from Butuan, Surigao, Tagum, Cotabato, and Digos. Since her garden home is located at Deca Homes Resort Residences in Barangay Tacunan, Tugbok District in Davao City, Gumapac said she targets to have her own shop someday where her clients can easily locate her.
She said she is lucky that even though her garden home is quite far from downtown, through words of mouth and the internet, she is still able to reach out to interested buyers even outside the city. Gumapac can be reached through mobile number (0939) 105-1359.