By Andrew Irumba
Entebbe: City businessman Sudhir Ruparelia is smiling from ear to ear after landing a deal as the first ever Ugandan to export rose flowers to China, through his Rosebud Company.
Spy Uganda has learnt that Rosebud successfully scooped the deal to supply roses to florists in China early this year and as we write this, the first commercial shipment was flagged off last week. This is the very first time China is accepting Uganda’s locally grown flowers to be sold on large commercial basis in China.
An official from Ruparelia Group told this website on Wednesday thus; “The First Shipment to China is very historical because there are very tests and procedures one has to go through, which Rosebud successfully did and is so far the first ever to go on large scale commercial of rose flowers to China, quality and handling are key things here,” he said.
We have learnt that the first consignment passed all conditions set by China Gov’t and was cleared last wed.
Based in Entebbe, Rosebud Ltd is Uganda’s largest exporter of roses, commanding around 40% of Uganda’s raised export market. The green houses on the farm cover a total of 50 hectares producing and exporting over 12 million stems per month. These stems, due to the favourable weather conditions experienced throughout the year, result in their all being of the same high standard. Rosebud Ltd solely specializes in the production of quality cut roses for export onto the world market.
The greenhouses are irrigated by a modern, automated water-pumping unit, which feeds the fully computerized hydroponics systems. The following categories of roses are produced: Sweetheart Roses; Valentino (dark red), Viva (bright yellow), Chelsea (orange), Red Calypso (bright red), Meera (champagne), Akito (white), Blushing Akito (pink), Raspberry King (dark red), Jambo (bright red) and Intermediate Roses; Ace Pink (pink), Bella Rose (pink), Sunny Star (yellow), Furiosa (dark red), Tropical Amazone (orange), Banjo (pink), Labelle (peach), Sorraya (yellow), Athena (white).
The Farm
Rosebud Limited, the largest exporter of Sweetheart cut, is a flagship company of Ruparelia Group of companies owned and managed by Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia. The farm has steel structures and a 100% Hydroponics system supported by a fully automatic centralized irrigation system.
