Patrick Vez is one of Anthura’s first growers and he still is. He lives in Portugal with his wife and 6 children and owns a nursery there of 5,000m² filled with Anthurium cut flowers for the Portuguese market. More than 6,000 kilometres away, in the Dominican Republic, his other company is situated. With a total surface of 8 hectares of greenhouses and shade houses, Anthuriana Dominicana produces millions of plants and flowers every year. We spoke with Patrick about his company in the Caribbean, its history, the current situation and the future.
Can you briefly tell us something about the Dominican Republic?
The Dominican Republic is situated in Central America, the main language is Spanish and the country has a population of 11 million people. The most important sector is tourism. Remarkable is the fact that a lot of Dominicans that live abroad support their family financially. They send all the money they can miss. This is a big source of income for many Dominicans.
How did Anthuriana Dominicana originate?
As a grower of strawberries in Switzerland I rented the land and did not have the ability to buy it. There was no possibility to start something there: land was mostly not for sale or unavailable or it was too expensive. At the same time I am an adventurer, that loves challenges and new things. In 1986 the opportunity presented itself that I could go to the Dominican Republic and start something there. I visited this country several times in order to investigate how it all worked over there, before I moved. During that time, I still grew strawberries. After two years, in 1988, I decided to emigrate and invested USD 100,000 in the land and in the business ad started to grow Anthurium cut flowers. After a while I added Anthurium pot plants. The company name indicates it: Anthuriana Dominicana, Anthurium in the Dominican Republic.
From there on my business started to grow. Not because I am a very good grower and manager, but because I made the right decisions at the right time. Being awake and recognizing signs of change helped me with that. That is what makes a successful business as far as I am concerned.
At the start we exported all our cut flowers to the United States. At a certain moment I started to grow Poinsettia’s; in Puerto Rico they sold them on every corner, but nowhere in the Dominican Republic. Anthuriana Dominicana started to sell them locally, even though there are only 100,000 consumers that buy flowers and plants. This is a very small quantity compared to the 11 million inhabitants. However, the elite is very rich. They like to show what they have and spend a lot of money on flowers and plants, among other things.
What is the current structure of the company?
I now sell all the plants in the Dominican Republic and a little bit in Haiti. We kept on investing and expanding and now we have about 700 products, among which Phalaenopsis pot plants, Anthurium pot plants and Bromeliaceae: our top 3 products, but we also have succulents, cactus, palms, vandas, dendrobiums, calatheas, ficus, spatifillums, ferns, poinsettias, annuals etc.
We have 200 employees, 6 farms at 6 different locations, sometimes a four hour drive from one to another. The structure is mainly that each greenhouse has its own task, for example for Phalaenopsis we grow one phase in one specific greenhouse and the next phase is on a farm more than 100 kilometres away. There we also make flowering phalaenopsis and annual plants. Another greenhouse is situated in Tubagua Valley, a very touristic place in the north of the country where we grow all our cut flowers.
We have one manager that manages more or less all six locations, he supervises them. Before it was me that had to go there six times a year and manage my company the rest of the time from a distance, which results in accepting many mistakes. Any Dutch manager would get a heart attack.
We have a lot of products that do not have the right quality because of the environment and because we do not have the Dutch techniques. In the next six months we will build a greenhouse with heating for phalaenopsis and a new location on the mountain for succulents and Anthurium pot plants.
We sell 65% directly to retail and there is not much competition. We always try to get the best plants for them even if we do not have them ourselves. We are market leader in pot plants, especially flowering pot plants. Sales increases with 20% every year for already a long time.
In our shop it is always busy, because people from all around the country come there. Our 30 employees do the best they can and deliver good service, that has resulted in an excellent reputation. We are also active on social media: Instagram and Facebook.
Why did you move from the Dominican Republic to Portugal?
I lived next to one of my greenhouses, but I had to move to the city because of the school of the children. However, I am not a person that likes the city, so I was not happy with that. At that time it was also not as safe as it is now and the situation was a little bit boring… I wanted and needed a new challenge. I wanted to move to a country where I could live in nature, with a nice climate and good schools for my children nearby. Two of my children work in the company nowadays.
In my opinion the most important things are to be happy and try to help other people to be happy, besides your health. With regard to my business I also wanted to be happy: I really enjoy working with plants. I love to grow them and I also like to have happy employees and happy customers. If I would do it only for money, I would open a supermarket.
How do you arrange business operations from Portugal?
My colleagues do the work and I do not interfere too much, it is their responsibility. When it concerns a big project, like the start of the cultivation of 6 cm phalaenopsis pot plants, I arrange a lot, from buying pots to arranging the planting, even though I am nearly retired. The same applies to construction projects, like a new greenhouse or starting up a new garden centre. I work mostly at night due to the time difference with the Caribbean.
Most of my work in Portugal is logistics. A shipment from the Netherlands to the Dominican Republic consists of 5 or 6 shipments that need to be combined to one. Luckily this is quite easy nowadays. I feel that my employees have to feel free to do their work the way they want to do it. I check when it is time to buy new greenhouses. Maria, my head of sales, is also very important. She manages all the sales, coordinates all the logistics and distribution and she manages our two garden centers.
