CatalogueAs you know, in Verdissimo we are dedicated to the production and distribution of preserved products, both in flowers as with greenery and trees. What are Verdissimo’s fields like? How are these products grown and collected?
Preserved products are natural products that maintain their beauty over time thanks to their preservation process. Just as the treatment of these products is different from that of fresh products, these are grown, collected and transported differently.
Our crops
in the Andean region
Verdissimo has several farms with exclusive flower crops for preservation in Ecuador and Colombia. Both farms with crops total more than 20 hectares.
Colombia and Ecuador are traditionally florist countries (Colombia is the world’s second largest exporter of flowers and Ecuador is also among the main exporters) and have a fairly significant weight in world flower markets. This is mainly because their geography allows them to have the ideal climates for flower crops, and, particularly for roses.
In addition, their governments highly incentivize this type of industry through partnerships, sponsorships and prioritization of logistical conditions in high-movement seasons such as in the months of January and March. It should be noted that this industry directly and indirectly employs more than 190,000 people.
Going back to the subject of crops, we can highlight that they are found at different heights and in different climatic conditions, Roses are usually cultivated at heights above 2,000 metres so that it has a particular beauty, quality and size, while other varieties of flowers must be maintained in warmer climates and therefore below 2,000 metres. All flower crops are in the Andean mountain area.
It’s important to explain that we also have specific crops for our greenery and palm leaves, these are also located in the Andes and also have the same control as the flowers, but unlike those, these types of crops do not require greenhouses, since they are usually much more resistant to the climate and their beauty is not affected by it.
Why the
Andes region?
The mountains are key to the flexibility for flowers in Ecuador and Colombia since it allows to have several temperature zones, and this allows a single country to have several ideal climates for different types of flowers, these are two examples:
Height between 2,000 and 3,100 metres that are found in certain regions of Colombia and Ecuador offer ideal climatic conditions.
Temperatures One of the highlights is that in these regions they have temperatures ranging from 10ºC at night to 24ºC during the day. These relatively cold temperatures make the flower cycle longer and this makes the flowers come out larger, better shaped and with sturdy petals.
This does not happen in Europe or in places where there are seasons. In these cases, the cycles are much shorter due to the rapid changes in weather conditions that can be seen during the year.
Being at such a high level also solar radiation is much higher (particularly UV rays) that makes the colour shading on the petals better (the plant produces more chlorophyll and there is higher photosynthetic rate and therefore, when the flower starts to form, there is a higher enzyme production that colours set more strongly on the petals). All this activity and the setting of colours on the petals makes them healthier and stronger, with higher quality and with a smoother texture.
Height We have crops on land between 800 and 1,200 metres high.
Temperature Between 18ºC at night and 31ºC during the day (on average) that allow special varieties such as hydrangeas to find ideal relative temperatures and humidity.
Regarding the most common types of flowers in the area we can highlight the following: gardenia, cymbidium orchid, dendrobium orchid, carnations, roses, hydrangeas, gerberas, tuberoses and chrysanthemums.
Indeed, we also obtain products harvested in Europe, crops focused on endogenous species of the continent such as palm trees, mosses and other green plants.
We cannot talk about an exact moment when a flower is collected to be preserved. Each flower and variety we offer in Verdissimo to our customers have different picking times. However, all of them are collected at their best, just when their beauty and quality are in their optimum moment.
The entire pruning process is done manually. The pruning of the flower to be preserved later is done at times and with different specific techniques depending on the type of flower (or product) and has a rather different treatment than the regular pruning for the sale of fresh flowers.
In order for our products not to be damaged in transport, specialized flower transport is used along with special packaging that protects the flowers through special packaging that protects the flower during this time.
Most of our crops around the world have greenhouses that protect the flower from the direct impact of the local climate. This is done to protect the flower from heavy rains, hail, strong winds and drastic temperature variations, in general: from adverse weather conditions. Ideal fertilizers and nutrients are used depending on the type of flower or plant to ensure that the flowers reach their best moment at the best time. There are also advanced irrigation systems that control the hydration of the plant precisely during the different seasons of the year, ensuring healthy plant growth.
In addition, to finish with this section we want to tell you everything about the water we use: the water used for our crops is mostly stored in reservoirs that collect rainwater, and is reused as much as possible.
