25 years of growing sustainable flowers, PJ Dave Flowers
25 years ago, Mr. Pravin Dave set on a journey. With a wooden greenhouse sitting on less than a hectare, an iron sheeted house where he lived and a relentless passion for flowers, Pravin dreamt big in an area full of thicket, with no roads, electricity or water.
That drive metamorphosed into a 25-year journey that has now grown into three fully fledged flower farms growing over 25 top notch flower varieties on more than 100 hectares that are taken care of by more than 2000 workers. The result is over an estimated 80 million stems of roses that are exported each year to prime destinations across the world.
Nestled in the serene Isinya area of Kajiado County, PJ Dave Flowers Limited, is one of the scions inspired by the founder Pravin Dave with the others being PJ Dave Flora and Isinya Roses. The companies have carried and amplified Pravin’s dream, becoming trailblazers in the global floriculture market.
A bouquet of sustainability
The farm prides itself in producing 20 varieties of intermediate roses among them Rhodos, Athena, Bellevue and Madam Red. It also cultivates spray roses with varieties ranging from Reflex, Odilia, Mirabel and Dinara while the 30 premium varieties include Everred, Mandala, Revival, Confidential and Good Times among others.
Surgical precision is the name of the game in growing the varieties at PJ Dave Flowers with nothing left to chance. The decision on what variety to grow on the 102 hectares of land is guided by the area of production and the market demand.
For example, some varieties will do well in Naivasha while others are at their optimum in Isinya due to climatic and geographical factors. The company has set up trial houses that have up to 60 varieties that are tested for six months. “We invest a lot on variety selection because this is the first and crucial stage in flower production. We want to ensure that we respond to market demand and live up to our philosophy and that of our founding father, that quality must supersede everything else. At the trial house we test varieties for their performance in terms of how many stems they produce, their head size and length among other traits,” said Amit Kumar Singh, the Group General Manager.
Introducing Rhodos
Rhodos is the flagship variety in the farm. The variety has a large head of 6.0 cm, a thorn less stem and grows to an impressive length of 60 to 90 cm. It has a high petal count which is spotted best in full bloom. It continues to excite the markets due to its high vase life, it can stay fresh for more than three weeks. It is particularly preferred by customers around the year and during major events like Christmas or Valentines Day.
PJ Dave Flowers Limited has exclusive rights to grow the flower which has become something akin to a family flower. The family farm has grown it for more than 20 years. At the PJ Flowers farm, it is grown on 30 hectares out of the 102 hectares under flower production. Across all farms, Rhodos is grown on 100 hectares. “It is a flower that symbolizes the tenacity, the zeal and the passion in growing flowers that the PJ Dave Flower family holds dear. We are always happy at how it receives impressive attention across markets,” Kumar added.
The flower company has grown its global footprint having first started exporting flowers exclusively through the Dutch auction to now moving 80 per cent of the export to direct sales. Its prime markets are in Europe, Australia, Russia and Middle East even as it sets sights on emerging markets such as China.
“Our strategy to focus more on direct markets was informed by the fact that in direct sales you get fixed revenue, while in the auctions, the prices fluctuate and are dictated by events. When prices drop, production costs don’t drop so we had to make a deliberate decision on where we could maximize our bottom line,” added Kumar.
Investing in sustainability
But behind the blooming roses that have caught the world attention, are sustainable practices from farm to market that the company has invested in to ensure production of world class flowers.
With the farm being located on hilly terrain, the company has invested in dams to harvest rain water. It has also dug boreholes to ensure year-round supply of water which is crucial in flower production. The company has also installed a solar power plant that powers its operations from greenhouses to packhouses as it seeks to cut down on high energy cost. The plant is also helping the farm reduce its carbon footprint.
The farm has also invested in an allot machine that removes the high sodium in borehole water, filters it and makes it fit for human consumption. It is then shared with the staff and neighbouring communities.
The company is also planning to install a new technology dubbed nematodes filter. Nematodes attack the roots of plants destroying them before they mature. The filter uses water to trap the nematodes before they get to the water system. This reduces the use of chemicals which has been the conventional way of eradicating the pests. This, combined with the use of biological pest control methods like traps enhances biological and sustainable flower production processes.
Overcoming the challenges
But it hasn’t been all rosy at the farm. Kumar recalls the numerous challenges that they have had to contend with and the fighting spirit inspired by the founder that has kept them moving.
The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the biggest tests for the farm’s operations. With the world on lockdown, flowers couldn’t be transported and the business almost came to a halt. “A bulk of flower farms closed operations and sent their workers home. But even with the tough prevailing circumstances we decided to keep our workers in the farm. We owe it to our business partners who really supported us at that tough time, we are returning that favor by supporting them too,” Kumar said.
The Russian-Ukraine war also took a toll on them as Isinya division, one of the farms, had direct clients in Ukraine and Russia. The farm is now diversifying into more markets to insulate itself from any eventualities.“
“As a family business we learn from each other. That has been our strength and that is how we have overcome the hurdles we face. Our philosophy is to work round the clock to keep the customer happy, being friendly to nature and growing our farm and our family that includes our staff,” he added.
The plan
The farm has also ventured into fruit farming and has been growing avocados for export since 2018. It runs a nursery where it sells seedlings to farmers. This year it also secured 200 acres in Meru County to grow avocados for export. It is also mulling procuring additional four processing machines this year to assist in production even as it looks at expanding its fruits business to include mangoes, pineapples among others.
The 25-year journey and the myriad of successes is inspiring PJ Dave Flowers into new heights. The farm is looking at growing Gypsophila and summer flowers to respond to market demands. It has also set its eyes on growing the annual export figures to 200 million stems. “In the end flowers warm our hearts. We have seen how they have changed lives, since the first crop was planted by our founder and we want to keep doing this for the people and planet,” Kumar concluded.
