At the end of our second day in Ecuador we’ve completed our farm tours, and we’re preparing for the opening of the Agriflor show tomorrow at noon. After touring four of the top farms in Ecuador I was asked by the legendary Bill Schodowski how my experience matched up with my expectations. I had to admit that what we have seen and learned far outpaced anything I was prepared for.
In fact there are three things that really stood out for me…
“Bill”, I said, “You know how in all those pictures we in North America see of the rose farms it’s one shot after another of rows of roses? Then a pic of a person standing in a row of roses? Then another row? I figured we’d be spending our days walking up and down rows of plants, row after row … Those pictures really don’t do these farms justice at all.”
Nothing could be further from the truth! While we have had occasion to walk amongst the roses (with much excitement, I might add), the real impressions were made by what happens beyond the plants themselves.
1) These are real businesses run by excellent business people
It only took a few minutes at our first stop to dispel any remnants of the North American perception of how business is run outside of our borders. The men and women owning and operating these farms are serious operators, well schooled in their craft from local and international universities, and fiercely dedicated to the success of their farms. Jose Javier Pallares of GreenRose by ProductNorte was a successfully practising lawyer before making the transition to farming ~15 years ago. Fausto of FreshCut is a university educated agronomist with 25 years of experience working for companies like Sunburst and Dole before purchasing his own farm and making the transition to a completely organic operation. (Profiles on each farm we visited will be posted in the near future.) From technology to human resources to hiring outside process management consultants, these owners take their businesses very, very seriously.
2) Employees are valuable assets
Don’t be fooled by outdated stereotypes and semi-fictional exposes, the workers at these farms are very well paid and supported, and take a lot of pride in their work. The floral industry is largely responsible for dramatically improving the economic environment – especially in rural areas, and especially for women workers!
While the perks and wages naturally vary from farm to farm the average family is now earning a wage sufficient that each household has TV, DVD / BluRay players, dental care and braces for all the children, and many are placing their kids in private schools. Cars are now affordable for most families (which leads to some interesting traffic challenges in and around the major city of Quito!). Most impressive is the medical care provided by the farms with on-site doctors and nurses dispensing medicine which is available even for family members without an upfront cost.
Transportation to and from work is provided for the workers, starting early in the morning so that they can arrive for breakfast (lunch is also provided by the farm), and buses take them home around 4-5pm. Ongoing training, consistent feedback processes and athletic / recreation areas all help to ensure the farm employees feel valued, leading to long term employment.
3) There’s a science to this
On one hand it really shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that science is heavily involved in flower growing. But when I hear about farms altering the type of plastic used for the greenhouse roofing based on the type and colour of the flowers being grown, I am duly impressed.
Farms that are heavily invested testing new “codes”, or varieties, can spend several years and tens of thousands of tests just to bring one or two new varieties to production. This requires investment, rigorous data collection, communication with breeders, and a willingness to risk the production of several hectares while waiting for the chosen new variety to grow to production level. The next time you see a new variety of rose or delphinium at your wholesaler stop and remember that upwards of 50,000 tests were involved in the selection of that one plant!
From growing to harvesting to grading to packing to cold chain and transportation there are so many tiny incremental variables that the farmers are working to adjust all the time in pursuit of better flowers, longer life and happier consumers!
