A family-run firm, Aposentos has centralised its operations and 15 years since forming as a grower, it carries out all functions from production through to marketing.
Three of Aposentos’s farms (40 hectares) produce carnations and the other 12ha farm produces mini-carnations. Production is very labour intensive, with an average of 14.5 employees per hectare needed, compared with around 12 people a hectare in the rose business, which, says Felipe Ramírez, marketing manager, means that efficiency is of prime importance. “We are trying to be more productive with the area we have,” says Ramírez. “Costs are obviously rising and freight rates for example are unlikely to come down for some time yet. We recognise the need for greater efficiency in everything we do and next year we expect to produce 85 million stems of carnations and 25m mini-carnation stems. In 2005 we will have produced 75m cars and 21m mini-cars. And the additional volume we can export will also improve our ability to negotiate better freight rates.
“Every year, on January 1, we know that our costs will increase by x per cent, so it is crucial that we get the right amount of people to do the job. At the end of each week and month, we have to understand where we are and where we need to be to be better than our competitors.”
Retaining focus on a small band of products helps the cause too. “Our business has always been founded on carnations, although we also have 4ha of roses,” says Ramírez. “We have a bouquet operation, so we have partnerships with other growers, but we do not see the need to move into other flowers, as there is overproduction in most areas and demand is not rising significantly anywhere.”
The company’s flowers sell into 23 countries, but the UK was responsible for 28 per cent of sales in the last 12 months. “There are not many growing markets for carnations, or any flowers, but the UK is still expanding,” says Ramírez. “It is a steady market, whereas the US carnation market is characterised by peaks and troughs. We already had an established reputation there, but we have shifted some of our focus from the US, because we see good potential for more growth in the UK. We have improved the consistency of our quality, presentation and service, and have found that people like to work with us.”
Aposentos is certified by the industry-leading Florverde national quality assurance programme, run by Asocoflores, and expects to achieve EurepGAP compliance by April. “I genuinely believe the quality we have here cannot be matched, mainly because we have the God-given gift of an ideal micro-climate.” On the day FPJ popped in, he failed to keep the grin from his face as those words left his mouth - wading as we were through deep puddles of water as the rain continued to pour down.
Until recently, Ramírez says, UK supermarkets had not bought Colombian flowers in any volume, buying into the negative pictures painted of the country over the years. “We had a bad image, there’s no doubt, but a lot of good work has been done on the social side and worker protection has been taken very seriously indeed. We employ 1,000 people and have a personnel office that helps out with issues such as housing, day-care and transportation. Now, I think UK supermarkets see the potential in Colombia. We have certainly received some interest.
“Hopefully EurepGAP will open the market up, but it is not an easy thing to achieve. There are no problems with infrastructure, but a fair amount of work to be done on procedures and costs will definitely increase. But since we have begun to work with customers that sell directly into the supermarkets, we have recognised that this is where we want to go,” he says.
Apart from quality specifications, the major difference between markets is colour preferences. Aposentos has a constant showcase for its varieties within its packhouse and, says Ramírez, new strands are being introduced every season to adapt to the latest trends. “Each market has its own challenges and we have to account for market demand,” he says. “There are some colours that the UK market wants and others it does not, for instance burgundy is in favour there, but not so much elsewhere. We sell a lot of assorted boxes into the UK, and while some people buy mainly by colour, the UK buyers tend to buy by variety, of which we have about 35 carnations and 35 mini-cars. Colours, quality and volume are the three main criteria and because supermarkets want bigger volumes, they prefer to work with companies like us that have the advantage of year-round scale.”
The grading process is optimised by a system designed to incentivise workers. “Each line has a minimum volume goal and quality parameters to adhere to, and a leader to manage the process. Our inventory is automatically updated every 20 minutes, to ensure our sales team is working with the right numbers. We can move 1,400 boxes of 600 stems through the facility each day, so traceability is key to everything we do.”
With over 200 customers worldwide, Aposentos has just three salespeople. The medium-term objective could be to trim the customer base and concentrate efforts on fewer sales routes. “Of course, it makes sense to focus on the customers that want bigger volumes and are willing to pay more,” says Ramírez. “But we have some very good customers on a smaller scale too.”
While many of its competitors continue to target the softer option of the nearby US, Aposentos has no intention of hemming itself in with a narrow band of opportunity.
HELICONIA AT ONE WITH NATURE
Heliconias El Rosario, in Chinchina near Pereira, exports around 60 of the 120 varieties of the flower it grows to markets including the UK. The heavy - one flower can weigh up to one kilo - but delicate heliconia, which are part of the banana family, have a shelf life of 18-20 days after cutting, so the efficiency of the post-harvest process is paramount.
Maria Luz Estrada tells FPJ that the climate in Chinchina is ideal for heliconia, where the land is also extremely fertile. “Our strength is that we have so many varieties to choose from,” she says. Because of the land and the climate we are able to produce in accordance with nature. These plants are excellent for conserving the ground; at one with the environment, and they generate their own energy. We clear around the trees, but leave the rest of the debris from the trees in the gangways. We rarely use chemicals.”
The one client Heliconias El Rosario has in the UK asks for the whole range of varieties. Estrada says: “I don’t think people in Europe would necessarily realise the amount of work that goes into producing flowers to decorate their tables. This is certainly not factory farming.”
AN EXPLOSION OF FLOWERS
Colombia is the second largest producer of commercial cut flowers in the world, with a global market share estimated at 15 per cent. Roses lead the way in exports around the world, with carnations, irises and tulips high up on the list of major export varieties.
However, Colombia produces a wider variety of flower varieties than any other country in the world. For instance, more than 3,500 varieties of orchids alone can be found in production.
From Medellín, across the north east of Colombia, and above all in the Bogotá Savannah, which accounts for around 80 per cent of total output, floriculture has exploded in the last couple of decades. So much so, that according to the country’s flower exporters’ association, Asocoflores, the industry directly employs 94,000, with another 80,000 indirectly taking a salary from the sector. Exports in 2004 totalled $787 million and, while final statistics were not available at the time of going to press, is expected to return a broadly similar figure in 2005. Ninety-eight per cent of the flowers produced find their way onto the international marketplace and, remarkably, Colombia provides 60 per cent of the cut flowers sold in the US each year.
