The paradigm of the Ecuadorian rose

 During this reception, an Andalusian gentleman approached me, and in his very closed language and visibly moved, said to me "Mr. Nevado, what you have explained to us here, no one had explained before. Now I understand many things and now I know how I am going to order my roses from now on and how to assure that what I ordered be the best, thank you very much ".

This client had learned what a paradigm is.

In 2006, a German florist, on his way to Baños asked if he could come in and meet us. He was invited to visit and during lunch, I happened to ask him: "From the roses that you buy, what percentage is from Ecuador?" It is good to know that in the world market and in an average sized flower shop, 60% of the flowers sold are roses, so flower shops are always very interested in what is their greatest selling goal. The German florist quite surprised, looked at me and said "I only sell Ecuadorian roses; my clients are already used to the best quality"

This German florist, already knew the paradigm, nothing was to be taught to him.

These two examples will be the basis of my support proposal to the paradigm with which I will end my article.

There are some circumstances that have helped to make the rose purchasing paradigm become stronger. Among these are the positive actions of the government among which it is important to mention the opening for agreements with other countries, the existence of more than 30 sales offices around the world, job stability, the construction of good roads and, of course, the new airport.

With the Tababela and Latacunga airports we are well served, even though the destinations are only three: Amsterdam,Frankfurt and Madrid; we don’t have direct shipping points in Europe. However  there would  be the possibility to change that. Few years ago, after some studies,it was presented to the C oordination Ministry  a proposal in order to take the cut flowers out by refrigerated trucks  towards Manta and from there send them in a shuttle to Domenican Republic, Panama  or Caracas which would give us acces to more than twenty direct destinations in Europe.

May we have some direct destinations to Europe is essential. Having to go to Amsterdam means a cost 30% more and up to two days more time, therefore, an obstacle for development. Analyzing figures, we find that  we sell too little to the United Kigdom, being a very importanta market for flowers, and that is basically because we can not get there directly, but  through Amsterdam with a higher cost , and through Miami with the risk of flower heating and product damaging.

 To complement these actions Ecuadorian floriculture needs some necessary actions to be carried out, such as removing the VAT from farms, a real support for rose breeders and to find a way so all producers be responsible with the environment and thus contribute to its conservation .

Once we have seen what needs to still be done in Ecuador and how to deliver flowers to various points in Europe, to which a direct delivery has never been done, I wish to tell you about my proposal to increase sales and strengthen them.

I return to my two examples of experiences with two very different florists as I mentioned them at the beginning of my article. My proposal is, that besides the actions carried out by Proecuador with its fairs and trade missions, which they do very well and are very necessary, a program to extend the knowledge of the Ecuadorian rose paradigm be developed, having informative meetings together with importers and wholesalers for flower shops operating in different parts of Europe and that receive attention regarding all matters involved directly from Ecuador. We have to keep in mind that in many European countries, it is believed that those roses that are so good regarding quality are Dutch, because when they arrive from Ecuador to the Netherlands, they are practically deprived of their Ecuadorian identity Ecuadorian by removing boxes, caps, and other signs of identity of the farm of origin. Thus the information work at the florist/flower shop level is therefore quite justified to eliminate, among others, that erroneous perception.

If the logistics project through Manta is generated, in each new city that attention can be provided to clients, first a proposal of encouraging the knowledge about the Ecuadorian roses paradigm (through several meetings with florists of that city and its surroundings), as well as providing ample information about all that this implies.

If the Manta project took longer than expected, then we must use the three cities that at present hold the 100% of the flower shipments from Ecuador: Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Madrid. And, in the first place, do the respective presentations with the florists/flower shops from these cities and around them.

To have the florists/flower shops well informed about all that is implied in Ecuador and its roses will generate a core captive market for constant and guaranteed exports. This will complement the work carried out by Proecuador in a very economical manner, because roses are placed by the flower producing farms, the person making the presentation can also be placed by the flower producing farms, and over time a team of well trained people for these type events can be already in place when needed. These costs are minimal compared with having presence in a fair or a trade mission.

Roberto Nevado