Guatemala, often referred to as the “Land of Eternal Spring,” is renowned for its year-round favorable climate, making it an ideal destination for cultivating a diverse array of flowers. Joerg Kaehler, a seasoned floriculturist with Flortec, has been harnessing this advantageous environment for the past 16 years, nurturing a thriving garden of snapdragons and sunflowers, amongst others, while continually expanding their floral repertoire. Kaehler highlights the surging growth in flower production within Guatemala, a development underscored by their recent role as a distributor of Ball’s cuts and seedlings in the region.
Snapdragons, standing shoulder to shoulder with sunflowers, occupy the mantle as Flortec’s flagship crop. But how did this journey begin, and why snapdragons? Kaehler recounts, “I have a friend from school, Christian Hoffmann, who always wanted to do some kind of business with me on my farm. For a long time, I didn’t have an idea of what kind of business to start with him. One day, another friend from the University invited me to go and check out where he was working… long story short, he was growing snapdragons and told me about the good quality snaps grow in Guatemala. That’s when I had the idea of starting this business with him.” Their modest inception featured a 3,000m2 greenhouse, yielding 5,000 snapdragons weekly.
Flortec, now with nearly 16 years of experience, predominantly exports snapdragons to the USA while maintaining a presence in Salvador and Honduras. Kaehler observes, “When talking about the demand, the market is stable. We do not see an increase, but it is a product that is always in the mind of decorators for events.”
Sunflowers later joined their lineup, particularly the Vincent Choice variety, upon the suggestion of their distributor in Miami, Jetfresh’s Mike Black. Their sunflower harvest from Guatemala earned accolades for exceptional quality, with breeders acknowledging their excellence. Sunflowers are primarily dispatched to the US, with demand surging during the fall season. Kaehler explains, “That’s when we sell more of our sunflowers. During summer, the demand decreases significantly because there is a lot of local production in the US.”
The dedication to diversification is a cornerstone of Flortec’s success. Kaehler emphasizes the importance of not placing all their eggs in one basket, citing the advantages of having various flowers in their portfolio to mitigate potential setbacks with any one crop. Guatemala’s versatile climate, spanning from sea level to elevations of up to 3,000 meters above sea level, provides an abundance of microclimates for diverse flower production. Currently, they cultivate snapdragons, sunflowers, ammi majus, bupleurum, dianthus, carthamus, and strawflower. Additionally, marigolds are part of their repertoire, albeit exclusively during the fall season, from September to November. To further broaden their offerings, Flortec intends to conduct trials with Asters, matricarias, and Didiscus.
For the past four years, Flortec has been a key distributor for Ball, selling seeds and cuttings within Guatemala. Kaehler notes the upward trajectory of flower production in the country, with an emphasis on both the local and export markets. “There are two regions in Guatemala where cut flowers are produced. One area in which a lot of flowers are produced is mainly for the local market. This area is composed of a lot of small farmers, and they usually sell only in the local market. And there’s this other region, where the production units are bigger, and the growers here have the goal of exporting their flowers.”