Invernadero

While those answers would require a professional assessment, which I can provide, the basic answer is that sales to hotels is a fast way to go broke. They pay, sometimes, after 90 to 120 days...if you can carry that kind of financing, then we might be able to get you the professional help you need.

If you want more answers from professionals in the field, please send me a PM for help.

HB

Pm

Rodriguito,

Please PM me as I have local professional contacts which may be able to help you.

The major difficulty, like in any business, is to sell. You would need to have contracts (or at least a contract) with buyers before starting or you might lose everything. There are many people, including rich Dominican people that have looked into this and have not done because of the difficulty in securing the market. And forget about the local market. The local market is not enough and is supplied below cost with what can not be exported.

A friend has an invernadero in Manaboa and has been growing peppers (all colors, very beautiful) for several years. The business appears attractive as the demand for these peppers far exceeds the supply, but the start up costs are high, difficulty in obtaining financing, and excessive cost of imported products/fertilizers required to cultivate). My friend's brother is an agricultural engineer, and has achieved a remarkable level of consistency in output quality, but so far have made little money as the cost of borrowed capital is expensive and the process requires constant professional attention in a remote region. But the peppers taste great!

Greenhouse Cluster

Don't know if you guys are already aware but producers are attempting to come together in a cluster in order to establish best practices and negotiate from a position of strength along with sharing experiences in order to know what to avoid.

El Centro para el Desarollo Agropecuario is where the cluster usually meets. Let me know if you would like contact details.
Centro para el Desarrollo Agropecuario y Forestal - CEDAF

Yes there are Clusters in Jarabacoa, Constanza and Moca as far as I know. These Clusters are getting aid and assistance from USAID. But to get that I think they had to run on their own for couple of years and show some minimum turnover.

same problem... thanks for the comments

Now that the OP is back and posting again, did you ever get your organic business off of the ground?

I had an employee/administrative assistant person who quit to start a vegetable export business. She had a very clear and concise
1 yr and a 5-year plan with what she felt were doable goals.

She came to visit me about 7 months later driving a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser (paid for) and said she hit her 5 year goal in less than three months.

Who knew there was so much money in vegetables?

JD Jones said:

Now that the OP is back and posting again, did you ever get your organic business off of the ground?

I had an employee/administrative assistant person who quit to start a vegetable export business. She had a very clear and concise
1 yr and a 5-year plan with what she felt were doable goals.

She came to visit me about 7 months later driving a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser (paid for) and said she hit her 5 year goal in less than three months.

Who knew there was so much money in vegetables?

Click to expand...

Uhm, Hippolito Meija and family?

She's a sharp girl. She was 23 when she left but talked like she was 43. Spoke almost perfect English she learned in school here and graduated from UNPHU (I think) with a BA.
I bet she's doing really well.

JD Jones said:

Now that the OP is back and posting again, did you ever get your organic business off of the ground?

I had an employee/administrative assistant person who quit to start a vegetable export business. She had a very clear and concise
1 yr and a 5-year plan with what she felt were doable goals.

She came to visit me about 7 months later driving a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser (paid for) and said she hit her 5 year goal in less than three months.

Who knew there was so much money in vegetables?

Click to expand...

A few years ago there was a company based in eithef Mexico or in one of the Central American countrieswith several investments outside the DR. Then they decided to invest in the DR and based on whst was said by one of the owners in a Dominican magazine, what surprised them the most was that the initial investment they did in the DR became profitable in the shortest time compared to all the investments they have done in other Latin American countries.

For a long time the DR has been set up to create personal fortunes in the least amount of time, particularly when it comes to business that export most or all of their productions. If you speak to some of the larger businessmen of the DR, many of them will tell you that the DR has been converted into a platform of creating a lot of money in the shortest amount of time. Makes sense why in the business circles of other Latin American countries and even in Puerto Rico is widely known that the richest families of the DR have become some of the richest with private fortunes in the entire region. Nevermind the DR is tiny.

According to the expectation of several studies done regarding the DR in the 1960's when a team from the USA was focused on the DR to "prevent another Cuba" (similar to what was done with South Korea since it bordered communist North Korea) is that based on their plans the DR was suppose to be developed by now.

AlterEgo said:

My husband's brother is currently installing 3 large greenhouses on his finca, they have a contract with someone and will be planting a lot of mint for export. His wife's uncle makes a good living from doing just this, based on his experience they expect to make between 400-600,000 pesos each month and a half. [The planting to harvest is 45 days]. I'm not sure if that's for one greenhouse or all three - I think for each one. It all sounds almost too good to be true. The only 'catch' the contractors insist on is that a set percentage of the profit goes back to the people who live in the town where the greenhouse is. This can be given any way - foods, supplies, infrastructure, etc.

They're encouraging us to put at least one greenhouse on our land, through their contacts, so we're watching how it works out for them very closely before doing anything.

AE

Click to expand...

What is that! Forced socialism? Who monitors the give back?

JD Jones said:

Now that the OP is back and posting again, did you ever get your organic business off of the ground?

I had an employee/administrative assistant person who quit to start a vegetable export business. She had a very clear and concise
1 yr and a 5-year plan with what she felt were doable goals.

She came to visit me about 7 months later driving a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser (paid for) and said she hit her 5 year goal in less than three months.

Who knew there was so much money in vegetables?

Click to expand...

The Green Giant knew