Philosophy

Tradition

SB Talee from Colombia SA was founded in 1988, as a company dedicated to the propagation and sale of cuttings and mother plants of standard and miniature carnation varieties for flower growers in Colombia. The company initially focused on the promotion and sale of the varieties developed by its parent company SB TALEE, founded in Tuscany, Italy in 1962. In the late 1990s, the operation was completely transferred to Colombia (South America), where it continued to develop its breeding and selection program for new standard and miniature carnation varieties, as well as the propagation and marketing of cuttings and mother plants. In 2009 its carnation breeding program merged with that of one of the world leaders in ornamental breeding, Dr. Flavio Sapia of Hybrida SRL, creating the company Natura Breeders SA, of which SB Talee de Colombia SA is now the exclusive agent for Latin America.

Innovation

Keeping a close relationship with its sister companies SB TALEE and NATURA BREEDERS, GEOFLORA ensures the permanent introduction of new varieties, thus being always at the forefront of the most innovative products appreciated by cut flower markets and consumers in the world.

High Quality

Quality of plant material at the genetic and phytosanitary level
The implementation of the carnation plant propagation scheme with the strictest quality and professionalism controls is another central aspect of SB TALEE’s activity; this process consists of three generations:

First generation

is the origin and everything: nuclei or Extra Elite plants, the company has 20,000 plants from which the whole production process is born. This material is located in greenhouses isolated by anti-strip nets, in which all the biosecurity measures are applied to guarantee the optimum quality of the material obtained there.

Second generation

while maintaining the same infrastructure and biosafety standards, the grandparent plants are generated by the nucleus plants; the company produces 220,000 grandparent plants per year, from which the mother plants are obtained.

Third generation

corresponds to mother plants. Each year SB TALEE plants 1.2 million mother plants to produce more than 52 million cuttings, which it markets to growers in Colombia and its allies abroad: Brazil, China, Ecuador, Korea, Spain, Ethiopia, Holland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey. The company also markets more than one million mother plants, as some growers prefer to purchase them to produce their own cuttings directly in their own facilities.

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Social and environmental responsibility

To ensure the quality and technical rigor of the processes in these three generations, procedures have been standardized for the correct operation of equipment and tools, through which optimal management conditions are ensured in the company’s infrastructure, such as the biosecure greenhouses, the availability of the water treatment plant, the use of a new generation boiler and substrate disinfection area, among others.

Water

We reduce water consumption by collecting, storing and redirecting rainwater through a system directly to a reservoir. We have a water well that provides clean water and a lagoon to save water for further needs. We have a drip irrigation system to optimize the use of water.

Recycling and waste management

We have a WMP ( Waste Management Plan) to minimize waste and to encourage reuse and recycling, generating the least possible impact on human health and the environment. We constantly train our employees in proper recycling practices.

Workers

We offer our workers safe working conditions, competitive salaries, medical care, extra bonuses, as well as transportation, food and education allowances.

Chemicals

We avoid using category 1 chemical products and pesticides which may damage endangered species and pollinators. We designed a program to plant trees around the greenhouses to prevent the spread of chemicals used (cat 2,3,4).