A partnership between Spanish grower Continental Breeding and Maxiflores Colombia is reshaping Latin America's floral industry through advanced breeding techniques and a shared commitment to excellence. Their combined expertise supports the development of innovative rose varieties that meet market demands and adapt to the unique conditions of the region. This Colombian collaboration highlights how teamwork in the floral sector can drive forward new, high-quality products, bringing a fresh perspective to rose breeding and strengthening Latin America’s presence in the global floral market.
A Visit to Continental Breeding and Maxiflores Colombia
In the past months, Melissa Maingot and Shallima Turizo took a mini road trip to visit Continental Breeding's farms in collaboration with Maxiflores in Bogota. Guided by Luisa Aldana, the Commercial Director of Continental Colombia, they experienced an unforgettable tour showcasing the entire rose-growing process. From observing the care handles in cultivation to learning about the innovative techniques used to produce Colombia's stunning roses, as well as the social responsibility programs they are implementing for all their workers, their visit highlighted the dedication and expertise behind every flower.
The trip offered a unique insight into the deep work and precision that defines Colombian floriculture. For this, we asked Luisa and Christian Lüchau, Production Manager of Maxiflores a few questions to put everything about the alliance in perspective for all the flower lovers out there!
A Strong Colombian Alliance to Share the Love for Flowers Worldwide
During their visit, they were able to ask a few questions to the professionals of the team starting with:
Q: How many years has Maxiflores been working with Continental Breeding and what percentage of their varieties are in production?
"Since 2015. All varieties, which are initially codes, are planted at Maxiflores and it is where the first agronomic evaluation is made, data is collected and their potential is looked at, all opinions are taken into account, production, and commercial. Clearly, Maxiflores is the farm that has the varieties in production first."
Shallima and Melissa were also eager to know how they both collaborate to ensure the quality and consistency of the flowers from genetics to production is achieved. In a collaborative answer, they provided:
"The two companies are business partners, so the interest is mutual and so is the responsibility to do a good job at each stage of the process, so that each one ensures that their participation in the development of the new variety is always focused on their specialty."
The Challenges of Creating New Varieties
Luisa shares a bit more insight as to the deep and arduous work that goes into creating new varieties. We asked her: What challenges do you face when creating varieties that are not only aesthetically appealing but also resistant and high-yielding?
"On this path everything is a challenge, developing a variety is a challenge, first getting it to be a variety that agronomically meets the expectations of the producers, but also that is pretty and special for the market; from the moment of selection, we are looking at what is different about that plant that emerges from the first crosses; however, the whole path is uncertain, day by day the market has become more dynamic and developing a variety takes many years, it is a race against time, trying to come up with varieties in the basic colors that will always be present, but also trying to innovate and today the type of openings marks an important trend, the final client is the one who has the decision, and is the one who determines the direction of the market."
Team Work Makes the Dream Work
Teamwork is crucial in the flower industry because every step of the process—from cultivation to arrangement and distribution—requires collaboration and coordination. To exemplify this hand-in-hand teamwork, we asked both to share an example of a variety they have worked on together and what the development and production process was like.
They shared:
"One of the varieties that was developed in collaboration with Maxiflores is Rose Summerlight, where the appreciation of the technical group was very important in the decision to commercially introduce the variety since they were the ones who showed special interest in the variety as a substitute for others that had already been around for some years, but this one, in particular, reached a segment of the market that required renewal."
The partnership between both companies exemplifies how collaboration drives innovation in Colombia’s flower industry. Their joint efforts combine Continental's advanced breeding techniques with Maxiflores’ production expertise, creating a streamlined process that produces high-quality, resilient roses suited for international markets. With the dedication of their teams, they are constantly refining their approach, taking into account market trends, production needs, and client preferences. Together, they are sharing the country's floral excellence worldwide.
