Suntory Blue Roses Approved Under Bio-Diversity Law

In a joint venture with Florigene Ltd. (Victoria, Australia; President: Toshihiko Ashikari; Fully-owned Suntory Group subsidiary), Suntory Limited is proud to announce that its “blue roses” were granted approval by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of the Environment under the Cartagena Law ¹ for Type 1 Use Regulations ² (for use as cut flowers, in cultivation, storage, shipping, disposal and other acts associated with these uses) on January 31, 2008. These flowers, the world’s first blue roses ³, were developed in a joint venture with Florigene Ltd.

Suntory is now focused on building a production and marketing structure for these revolutionary new blue roses and plans to launch sales in 2009.

• Suntory Blue Roses – A Brief History
The rose boasts a long history, with horticulturalists developing tens of thousands of varieties in an extensive palette including red, white, pink, and yellow. This palette has never included blue because rose does not have the blue pigment, and past attempts to breed this color rose have gone nowhere. With so many disappointments, the term blue rose has become synonymous with the impossible – until 2004, when Suntory and Florigene biotechnology proved successful in developing the “impossible” blue rose. In the process of pursuing the blue rose, Suntory and Florigene also created Moondust, the world’s first blue carnation.

	1990	Suntory launches joint venture with Australian company Florigene Ltd. to focus on developing blue roses
	1995	World’s first blue carnations successfully developed
	1997	Suntory launches sales of the first blue carnations, named Moondust, in Japan
	2004	Blue roses successfully developed
	2008	Blue roses granted approval under Cartagena Law
	2009	Suntory launches sales of blue roses (planned)

¹ Specifically, the Law Concerning the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity Through Regulations on the Use of Living Modified Organisms
² Type 1 Use refers to distribution, cultivation in conventional fields, and other “uses that do not prevent spreading within the environment.”
³ Petals that contain nearly 100% blue pigment.