São Paulo – A company from the state of São Paulo has found a high-end niche in the floriculture and vegetable market in Brazil. DRO Ervas e Flores (DRO Herbs and Flowers), headquartered in the city of Cequilho, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, grows flowers, fine herbs and sprouts for use as ingredients in refined restaurants in the city of São Paulo. The company has already, in fact, exported to South America. “What also happens is that our clients (chefs) cook abroad and take our products," said DRO Ervas e Flores owner Deborah Orr.
Up to now, foreign sales have been sporadic, to Argentina and Bolivia, but Deborah plans to invest in exports in future. She explains that there is no problem sending the products a long distance, as that may be shipped by air, with the items refrigerated. For the time being, however, DRO finds in Brazil a heated market for its products. This is so true that the company is being expanded and plans to double production, which is 35 kilograms a day, up to the end of the year.
In the line of DRO clients is D.O.M, a restaurant specialized in Brazilian gastronomy that is run by chef Alex Atala, considered the best in Brazil and the 18th best worldwide. The company supplies other top restaurants in São Paulo, like Dui, of vanguard cuisine establishment, run by chef Bel Coelho, and the Japanese Aizomê, which is run by chef Shinya Koike, from Tokyo. The company also sells to hotels, buffets and gastronomy schools. A large part of the deliveries is to São Paulo, but DRO sells all over Brazil.
The product portfolio is varied. Herbs include from eight kinds of basil – like the Italian, purple and Thai – to thyme, marjoram and manjerona, as well as spearmint. Herbs kick-started the company’s business, which decided to return to the sector as it was hard to find the product for high-end cuisine. The sprouts were the last kind of product to be cultivated by DRO Ervas e Flores and serve mainly to make salads. There are sprouts like beetroot, mustard, turnips, sunflower, radishes, celery, cloves and shervil, among others.
The flowers cultivated by DRO serve mainly to decorate plates. But they may be eaten. At the company farm, the flowers produced include violas, begonias, borago, monks cress, chrysanthemums, pumpkin flowers, coriander flowers, sweet alyssum, mini roses, basil flowers, roses, rockets and violets. Both flowers and other items are produced organically, explained Deborah.
The business started with the businesswoman’s brother, John Robert Orr, who set up a greenhouse on the family farm, in Cerquilho, 14 years ago, for production of lettuce. At the time, Deborah and her parents lived in the Untied States. Her brother, however, died, and, in 1996, her father, John Derek, decided to move to Brazil to continue developing his son’s project. The company was established, winning the high-end cuisine market in the country and Deborah took charge of the company, taking over from her father, five years ago.
Contact
DRO Ervas e Flores
Site: www.droervaseflores.com.br
Telephone: (+55 15) 7811-0620
*Translated by Mark Ament
