The Hernandorena family is not only Isabel, Fernando and Rosa, but also every one of the people who make up this company today. The three Hernandorena siblings have been able to lead this company under the values of commitment, stability and prestige, creating a brand and a sense of belonging.
To talk about stone fruit, persimmon, pomegranate or carob tree nurseries in Spain is to talk about Viveros Hernandorena. A family company that has known how to create a brand for its customers, who today are located around the world, but also at home, among its workers, weaving a sense of belonging that began when Fernando Hernandorena Pérez founded the company in the 80s.
Father, as everyone in the company calls him, proudly walks around the facilities of this nursery, which is run with strength by his three children, Isabel, Fernando and Rosa. Each one of them assumes a responsibility within the company, but, above all, they value the fact that they can continue to be a family that enjoys working together, under the values that their parents instilled in them: hard work, effort and understanding.
A family with a clear vocation
Fernando Hernandorena Pérez already knew how to do grafting when he was 9, and after raising a family, he decided to take over from his father, Fernando Hernandorena Casp. He inherited his passion for this trade from him and, without any academic training, he laid the foundations of his company on know-how and experience. The same experience he passed on his children from a very early age.
Fernando Hernandorena Ribes was the first to be clear that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and father. He currently assumes the tasks of management and head of production, with a clear vision and business focus, visionary and enterprising, with continuous training, which allows him to set himself no limits in the challenges that the sector may pose. ‘Our aim is to create a company that lasts over time, that offers stability to our workers, and the survival of the Hernandorena surname in the sector over time. To this end, we offer commitment to our customers, stability to our workers, prestige with our plants’, explains Fernando.
Isabel Hernandorena Ribes, the eldest of the three, after an academic period, joined the company in administrative tasks, which later, over the years, have changed to the area of Sales and Logistics. ‘It is a very dynamic and changing job but it is always very enriching to be able to work with the family. I’m not saying that there aren’t difficult moments, which there are, but we have always known how to separate family matters from business’, Isabel explains.
Perhaps Rosa Hernandorena Ribes is the most visible face, due to her position as sales manager, but if there is one thing they are proud of in this company, it is that everyone plays the same role. They have analysed the SWOT of each one, and knowing their strengths, each one takes on the position that the company needs most. Rosa’s is at the head of the sales department. After training and working abroad, she decided to return and join the company.
It was then, with the three of them already inside, that one of the most important turning points in the company took place in 2007, with heavy investments and a new, clearer, more defined business strategy, and a commitment to the potted plant. ‘We were aware that we needed to establish some things, we trained ourselves and we decided where we wanted to go. It wasn’t all easy, there were complicated moments, and I have to say that, with respect and understanding, we had the full support of customers and suppliers’, Rosa explains.
And to understand this evolution, it is not only necessary to know the trajectory of those who run the company today, but also the character of those who left. ‘My father was very generous because he knew how to step aside at the right time. He knew that he had to make way for us, that we wanted to change and improve things. Today he is proud of what we have achieved,’ Rosa adds.
Leading in its segment
Among the TOP 5 largest nurseries in Spain, undisputed leaders in Europe in minority crops such as persimmons and carob trees, Viveros Hernandorena is looking back to its origins, to what its grandfather and father did best, once again focusing on bare-root plants, but with a well-defined line of species and varieties, with highly professionalised work, which allows them to offer volume.
With more than 60 permanent workers, and as many other permanent-discontinuous workers to whom they ensure employment throughout the year by reaching agreements with other companies, Fernando, Isabel and Rosa have managed to create a brand: outwardly with a top quality product, but also inwardly, achieving that sense of belonging that makes them family, blood or not, to all those who work at Viveros Hernandorena today.
In the next edition of Fruit Attraction will be attended by the company’s top management, who will be supported by the company’s technicians, to attend customers and continue to highlight one of its outstanding products: stone fruit (Stand 3E09).
