Gianfranco Fenoglio and Mauricio Jiminez at the Proflora in Bogota, Colombia. At this show, they won the first prize "Best in Category" for their spray carnation that still has a code.
Ability to supply large quantities
According to Fenoglio, there are several factors contributing to the success of the Colombian floriculture industry, and the ability to supply large quantities is one of them. In contrast to European carnation growers, who grow one or less hectares, the Colombian carnation growers grow on a minimum of 15 ha and some even have 80 ha. This combined with stable year-round climatological condition enables them to supply larger quantities any time of the year and this is exactly what many large wholesalers and retailers require nowadays. At the Proflora flower show, for example, many large retailers paid a visit and were closing deals of large quantities. And several growers also received interesting requests from Korea, which seems to be an upcoming market."
Positive exchange rates
Another factor is the positive exchange rate between the dollar and Colombian peso. "The US is their main market, followed by Canada, Europe, Russia and Japan, and about 3 years ago, the value of the US dollar started to increase. Currently, it is almost double in value and 1 dollar equals nearly 3,000 Colombian pesos. As a result, Colombian growers receive more money for the same amount of dollars."
Low labor cost
Low labor costs also contribute to the flourishing Colombian floriculture industry. Harvesting flowers is a labor intensive job and when comparing the costs of a European or US worker with that of a Colombian worker, they are about 7 times less expensive."
La Villetta's varieties on display at their open days.
Positive vibes
At the end of March, La Villetta organized open days together with other nearby breeding companies Selecta one and Dümmen Orange. Colombian growers who visited were looking - and sometimes together with their clients - for new varieties, and they were all very optimistic. "They already received good and large orders and some are even planning to add new hectares for the Christmas season."
However, not only growers seem to do well, the entire country seems to do as well. "Over the last 5 years, we see more gardens planted and more plants are being sold within the country. Before, practically nobody had their garden planted. Now, you really see that people are enjoying to work and the economy is doing better."
Villetta's move to Colombia
Gianfranco is still pleased with his decision to move his propagation facility from Italy to Colombia. "Before 1999, we only supplied European carnation growers, but due to the decrease in the number of European carnation growers we started to look for other markets. At that time, the produced volumes of carnations were increasing in Colombia. So, from 1999 onwards, we started to travel to Colombia to learn more about the market. In 2010 we established our new facility in Colombia and over the years, it grew. Now, 100 % of the our plants are produced in Colombia while in Italy are produced the healthy nucleo, the Mother Plants and the breeding”, he says.
La Villetta supplies growers directly and through other suppliers in the country. Starting with a market share of 0 percent about 18 years ago, they have a market share of over 20 percent. "We supply 20 percent of the market directly and the rest through other suppliers." Besides that, they are also supplying Japanese growers with their rooted cuttings produced at their Colombian facility. "We have a distributor who supplies our young plants and even though the general number of growers is shrinking (because there are no successors) our market share is increasing."
Currently La Villetta has a market share of around 10 percent in Japan, but what is the reason for the increase? According to Gianfranco it is the assortment. "Japanese florists are fond of novelties and we have a lot of novelties in our assortment. On top of that, together with our distributor, we try to force the breeding into the direction of the Japanese customers’ demands."
For more information
La Villetta
Gianfranco Fenoglio
Email: villettasrl@gmail.com
www.lavillettasrl.it