Successful succession in flower business, the Red Lands Roses Style

By Steven Mulanda

The term succession planning refers to a business strategy companies use to pass leadership roles down to another crop of leaders. This sort of planning ensures the business continues to run smoothly and without interruption when the current leaders move on to new opportunities or retire.

Successful business succession in the cut flower industry is best illustrated at Red Lands Roses, a boutique farm which is located on Ruiru -Kamiti road, 25 Kilometers from Nairobi. When the founders of the farm, a couple, Dr. Isabelle and Aldric Spindler decided to take a bow from the management of the farm, they planned a succession to ensure that there would be continued employment, growth, and that the Red Lands Roses brand continues to be a reputed premium brand globally.

One of the talents they tapped is Disha Copreaux, who is the Chief Executive Officer, entrusted with overall operational and financial management responsibility of the farm. She started her role at the farm just over two years ago. It is a demanding job that Disha believes she is capable of accomplishing. Disha’s belief is buoyed by Dr. Spindler’s trust in her qualifications and experience, having herself been brought up in an agriculture-focused family.

“I have a lot of admiration for Dr. Spindler who is commonly referred to as ‘Mama’ here at the farm. She is a fearless entrepreneur and a force to reckon with in the industry, who focused on producing a high quality product and delivering excellent customer service. I have learnt a lot from her during the transition phase. My focus in running Red Lands Roses is to ensure that we remain one of the most reputed brands globally through continuation of mama’s legacy. As a manager I enjoy being at the farm daily and working with my team. Of course it’s a tough job, with new challenges presented every day, however this has made me a more resilient manager, and with time, it becomes easier to manage each challenge at a time. I ensure I have a clear strategy which is clearly communicated to my team, and I support them “hands-on” with delivery.

“I have a very good working relationship with Mr. Kadlag Paraji, who is the Chief Agronomist and Operations Manager. He has 28 years’ experience in rose growing .He is a respected professional in the industry and knows how to grow the flowers that represents the value proposition of Red Lands Roses to our customers. Kadlag came as the replacement for Mr. Aldric Spindler who was previously head of the technical department.

The pioneer woman in Kenyan floriculture
Mrs. Spindler is celebrated as a pioneer woman in floriculture industry. She is adored for being amongst the first to launch large headed “garden” spray roses, introducing and commercializing the Julieta variety which is now famous and adored world-wide. She has been able to inspire other farms to cultivate this range of large headed spray rose varieties.

In managing the farm, one of the things she never lost focus of was her desire to empower her employees, and particularly women. She quickly understood the central role of the Kenyan woman in the Kenyan household, and how they bear the brunt of not only looking after their household but also generating income through employment. Her goal was to help relieve some of the daily stresses and pressures they face each day when they report to work so that they could work with peace of mind. She was the first to offer private medical insurance to all employees and their families, school fee subsidies for children.

“We also provide a daycare facility, from the ages of 3 months up to 3 years before they attain the school going age. The babies are looked after by a trained, registered nurse. We also do sensitization on health because it is particularly important to us. We have sensitization on breast and cervical cancer as well as screening. We also do HIV/AIDS sensitization and testing as well,” Disha noted.
Red Lands has further invested in bicycles to both male and female employees as a mode of transport. This is an added advantage to employees’ health and fitness as they live within a short radius from the farm.

In addition, there is a gender committee that provides a safety network for women to share their stories (often domestic abuse) and receive guidance and counseling.

Outside the farm, Red Lands Roses actively supports and collaborates with the Maasai Namaiyana community in Kajiado. The matriarchs are invited to the farm to offer training to employees against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Outside of these trainings, Red Lands Roses ensures that they contribute to the education of girls within the Maasai community by purchasing decorative maasai beads necklaces to gift their customers abroad.

One of the projects that Dr. Isabelle Spindler engaged herself in 2023, was supporting Mercy Children’s Home located in Githurai. She mobilized resources from their customers and development partners which they donated to the home. The home provides a safe haven for children who have been abandoned and those who are orphaned.

On the environmental front, Red Lands Roses has been certified as a carbon neutral company since 2020. They have taken up initiatives that enable them balance out all the operational activities that generate carbon emissions. They have adopted the use of solar energy, plant trees and cultivate on hydroponics. Recently, the company supported Kenyan forestry projects whereby they planted one hectare of trees and intend to increase the acreage going forward.
Launch of Wangari Maathai variety
Since inception, the Spindlers ran the farm for over the years is that of launching new innovative varieties to keep customers excited and interested in roses.
Recently the farm launched the Wangari Maathai variety in remembrance of to pay tribute to the Nobel Peace Laureate for her championing of tree planting in mitigation of environmental and social problems. Her philosophy was and still is aligned to activities the company is carrying out.
“We launched the variety in March this year on the occasion of International Women’s Day, at the French Embassy. The variety has a 14 days vase life and we expect it to be a huge force in the market in the coming years,” Disha said.

Future plans
The farm is growing its market sphere with new destination such as USA and Eastern Australia. “We are at an exciting period of growth. The farm used to be 28 hectares but we are expanding to 43 hectare, with 50 percent of that expansion already complete. We look forward to growing to 900 employees and increasing our environmental initiatives by adding more solar capacity.