Aralia, Cat Palm and coffee. That is how Diego’s day looks like. And no, he is not only drinking the coffee, but is producing it as well!

Diego is the operations and projects manager at Plantex. We contacted him and asked him everything about this Costa Rican supplier.

He gave us more information about the company and its daily operations at the farm and the packinghouse. Read everything about supplier Plantex in our interview.

Can you tell us more about the company?

Plantex is historically a green foliage producer/exporter. Initially focused on leatherleaf fern production the company has been evolving, along with the markets.

Now we produce Aralia as a main product and Cat Palm in some small quantities to help with the mix. Nowadays Plantex is mainly focused on aralia production and has also started to become a well-known Specialty coffee producer.

What does your company stand for?

Hard work, high quality, fair trade and precision agriculture ambassadors.

How long have you been supplying WBE?

9 years and counting

Which products do you supply to WBE?

Aralia & Cat Palm

What do you think are the advantages of WBE?

WBE has great business relationships with its providers, based on clear and direct
communication. WBE has great knowledge about market behavior and with that we are able to plan ahead very efficiently. And we, as a supplier, feel great economic backing from WBE.
Payments are always on time and good planning allows the operation to run smoothly.

 What is your role within the company?

I, Diego Berrocal (son), am the Operations & projects manager on the green foliage farm. Also I work as the general manager on the coffee farm and coffee production side of the company.

What does your day look like?

Since we have lots of different tasks and duties to fulfill, my days are never exactly the same.

But in a short version I could say that I go to the farms daily (1 hr or more away from my house) and walk/check the plantation. I try to do it personally and as often as possible because we have an “Quality on the field” philosophy.

Once the plantation tour is over I do the office work that is pending. I am in charge of buying all the products that go to the plantation, some marketing tasks as well, R&D on new products and tools, irrigation systems maintenance & operation, packing plant operation and quality control and task planning on the whole operation.

Once all these topics are covered or/and running it's usually late in the day. The rest of the day I may use for errands and/or meetings that I may have programmed

Do you have any tips/tricks for your product?

We recommend cutting the first centimeter of the stem before putting it into the vase(with water of course), changing the water twice a week. We also have seen how the aralia and foliages are much more durable when they are not directly exposed to sunlight.

And, if you have a whole bunch of aralia leaves, we put them all in a vase and use it as a main product; it looks very nice and fresh.