Plantec Ecuador is a name that is well renowned when it comes to flower breeding and propagation. The flower company has, for the past roughly thirty years, been known to produce the highest quality roses, admired anywhere across the globe. It is easy to see the development of the company, as it has incorporated new technologies and practices in both the way it selects new varieties and also propagates new rose plants.
One may wonder, what drives Plantec’s success in the industry? What differentiates this home of exquisite rose varieties from others? Numerous components intertwine to ensure that Plantec reigns among its peers regionally and globally. These include research, technology, focusing on final consumers, unique variety selection process. But its key secret to success lies in its people. Many of the staff have been with the company for over twenty-five years. Not only have they witnessed the company’s story, but are also a part of it.
The Important Role of Employees
Employees, as all know, are perhaps the most important piece that keeps a company going. And this is a belief that Plantec has held ever since its establishment in the 90s.
The company, which is now well known in the flower industry across the world, believes that its runaway success would hardly have been achieved without the input of the hundreds of employees who have worked with the management to push the business forward.
And it has always been a principal belief of Plantec that as the company grew, its production team members should also grow. Many have had the opportunity to send their children to college. The first members of the family to have this opportunity thanks to support from Plantec. One such employee who has been a key pillar of the company’s ever-growing triumphant story is Jose Luis Tuston.
José Luis Tuston, Propagation and Data Collection Technician at Plantec
For Joselo — as he is fondly known — Plantec means a lot. He has been an instrumental part of Plantec’s history, having joined the company on January 2, 1994. This was just three years after its establishment. From his own experience, working at Plantec for around thirty years, Joselo acknowledges that over the years, the company has grown incredibly.
Joselo:
“Back then everything we did was very different. I feel that the company has improved a lot since then.”
From starting as an additional farm hand to now being a leader in the facilities working directly with upper management and head agronomists of the farm, Joselo has seen it all. He has, by the same token, grown in his personal capacity, as well as professionally, alongside the company.
He recalls how the company has, in the thirty-odd years of being a part of the team, been transformed and improved for the better. In the very early stages, according to Joselo, the fields they worked in were very different from what they now have. Work was so much slower, and less comfortable back then, with most of the tasks done manually both outside and inside the greenhouses.
Joselo:
“I've gotten to see how the company has, in the years that I’ve been here, incorporated new technologies. Now our work is done indoors, we are much more efficient, and that makes a huge difference. Even so, one of my most important lessons was to be more patient. I’ve, also, learned to communicate better and hold myself responsible for what I [can] do.”
Aviram Krell, Plantec's Product Manager, also, has recollections of the past years, with Joselo working in the company. Walking through the Plantec propagation facilities in Quito many years ago, Joselo would always be there with a friendly hello. And as years flew by, the pair ended up working together, developing research protocols and new techniques for improving the propagation processes.
The Plantec Experience at a Personal Level
Joselo’s experience at Plantec has, without a doubt, been a satisfying one. For one, he considers the company like a second home. And what a feeling it is for the staff to feel part of the company. This perspective makes a huge difference in how production teams and administrations collaborate to find solutions and grow as a team.
Joselo says:
“We [as Plantec] are the best. The company is honest with us, and it feels like a second home.”
His family and personal life, he says, have been incredibly rewarding thus far. All his four children have already left the nest and have set out for themselves. Maria Jose, his eldest works as a clinical psychologist, and his second, Juan Gabriel is an agronomist (inspired by his father). His third, Luis Fabian works in the tourism business hoping to make known to people all over the world, the beauty of Ecuador, while his youngest, Edison Javier, is a Chef.
For this, Joselo says he is grateful to Plantec, as it is thanks to the company - and Aviram as well - that he has been able to fend for his family throughout the years.
His advice to new staff at Plantec is simple. He says:
“This work is yours, be serious and the company will be serious with you, help the team and we will grow together with the company.”
Aviram also notes that Joselo represents the best of Plantec. He is dependable, hardworking, creative, intelligent, and most of all, a perfect example of how to seize opportunities through perseverance.
All photos courtesy of Plantec.
