The world is more connected than ever before. In this day and age, industries are rarely confined to one country of origin, and the floral industry is no exception. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Luis Lopez, a Rose grower, owner, and operator from Ecuador, to get his unique perspective on the Rose industry around the world and how the global industry affects him as a grower.
Luis Lopez has been in the floral industry for more than 28 years. He started his journey in 1990 as a Technical Manager for Agroflora. He stayed with that company for several years while also running his own farm, Anni Roses. Luis started with just 0.5 hectares of land and only exported to the USA. Over the years his business grew, and in 2004 he expanded to 3 hectares, six times his previous farm size! It was at this point Luis decided to work only on his farm. He also challenged himself to grow his farm both in hectares and exports by expanding into new markets outside of the USA.
Luis was successful! His farm is now 18 hectares, and Anni Roses is well known in many countries in Europe, especially Russia, for their high quality and extensive varieties. Furthermore, he is one of the few successful owner-operators who was born and raised in Ecuador, making his rise to success all the more impressive!
Outside of the USA, Russia has a high demand for Luis’ roses. In the beginning, he could provide only varieties like Forever Young, Virginia, Movie Star, Engagement, and Vendela. The Russian consumers love the quality he produces, and they are now receiving shipments with varieties like Proud, Explorer, Atomic, and a wide range of novelties or very new introductions; these are all new to the Russian market. Expanding markets worldwide seem to be most excited about garden shapes and unique novelty varieties.
Over the years, the floral industry has changed, thus, supply and demand has changed with it as well. Luis strives to innovate and stay ahead of the everchanging market. He is always planting and testing new varieties to bring to market. He aims to grow stronger varieties that ship better and last longer, providing his customers the best value he possibly can.
Being in Ecuador, Luis has a unique challenge of having to operate more efficiently than growers in other parts of the world. As costs are generally higher in Ecuador, he strives to produce the same quality flower with more efficiency versus other South American and African flower producing countries. With these higher costs, he must always find innovative ways to improve efficiency, without sacrificing quality.
He is particularly proud of the collection of X-pression roses that he grows. X-pression is a family of hybrid rose types that provide a garden Rose look without being so delicate. X-pression varieties perform much better than a traditional garden rose, while also being more cost effective for the end customer. This is something everyone in the supply chain can be excited about! In regular shaped varieties, he is very fond of Frutteto, Mia, Rhoslyn, and Big Bang.
Luis is sure to surprise and delight us with more beautiful varieties on the market in years to come!
Please visit his website at for updates on the varieties grown and contact your local wholesaler to purchase!
Here is Luis, with some of the new test varieties of DeRuiter, which is located at Anni Roses.
