The Flower Industry

The Ecuadorean flower industry seems to be little known by those outside of Ecuador. Many people likely do not realize that many of their flowers come from these plantations. The flower industry is certainly one of Ecuador’s emerging industries. Ecuador is actually one of the best places in the world to grow flowers due to the elevation and around thirteen hours of sunlight year round. I was expecting a wide variety of colorful flowers, but was surprised to see that they only grew two varieties of Baby’s Breath, or filler flowers. It was fascinating to see the process of cutting the flowers down to size, cleaning them, and preparing them for sale. It was also interesting to see some of the flowers you likely find in a flower shop near you in the process of being picked and shipped. However, one of the most interesting aspects of the plantation and the operation was the international component. The plantations biggest client was Europe along with the United States. It was interesting because part of the requirement to ship to Europe was a clean record in terms of process, chemicals used, and also the condition of the factory and the workers themselves. The workers appeared to be relatively happy, and had access to many services, such as an onsite doctor, a free bus service to pick them up, basic medication, along with nice looking facilities. However, the work was clearly monotonous and it made for a long day. Talking to the manager, it was difficult to tell whether these services would be provided without the international rules that hold them to good practices in order to sell flowers to the European market. It seemed as though the building, and its facilities, and practices in general were a result of requirements in the European market, rather than legitimate improvements. Whether this is true or not is debatable, but the resulting conditions are positive nonetheless.  It was certainly interesting to see a company operate their business strictly in accordance with outsiders rules and regulations. This operation provides an incredible example of the power of globalization throughout the world. This is certainly in instance in which holding yourself to the standards of foreign customers has led to improvements in the lives of workers and the conditions of the plantation. Hopefully this improvement can continue in other industries and begin to lose the need for outside influence to spur change.