Nevado Roses and the Ecuadorian Rose Industry
Afzalur Rahman
Thompson Rivers University, Canada
Volume 9: 2014, pp. 31-50; ABSTRACT
Founded in 1994, Nevado Roses is a world class rose producer located in Cotopaxi, Ecuador. The company grows over 20 million roses per year and exports the majority of its roses to the United States, Russian Federation, Spain, Switzerland, and Japan. The flower trade is a major business in the Ecuadorian economy and the country’s cut flower industry produced exports worth $837 million in 2013. The United States was the top export destination, accounting for almost 35 percent of cut flowers shipped from Ecuador. The Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) trade agreement had allowed Ecuador companies to bring roses into the United States on a duty free basis over the past two decades, but as of July 2013 Ecuador companies would no longer enjoy this privilege. As a result, Ecuador’s roses would become significantly more expensive to purchase in the United States due to the tariffs imposed. This case study is written from the point of view of company president, John Nevado, and the decisions he faces with impending tariffs that will be placed on his company’s rose exports to the United States.
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