CalMex Wholesale Growers & Shippers Inc. grows more than just flowers. It nurtures satisfied customers, strong business relationships on both sides of the border, and employees who feel they are part of the family. That’s because Luis and Esther Cervantes are more than just owners of this 6-year-old business. “Esther and I are the ones at the front of the business,” says Luis. “So if there’s any problem, people get a fast response. But we don’t work just in the office. We go in the fields and work as well. That makes it more like family than a business.”

Both Luis and Esther had extensive experience in the horticulture industry before starting CalMex on a nine-acre growing field in Vista. Today, CalMex has 70 acres of field production in Carlsbad, 37 acres for greens and wax flowers in Vista and a 24,160-square-foot shipping warehouse in Vista. The company is developing seven acres in San Marcos exclusively for growing safari sunset and myrtle. In all, it offers more than 30 varieties of flowers.

All this came from a vision the Cervanteses had for their future. “I saw that, throughout history, the people who had the land through the years were the ones who came out ahead,” says Luis. “That’s why this business has so much potential. It isn’t just flowers — it’s about the combination of the flowers and the real estate.”

That kind of business thinking is one of the many reasons the Cervanteses have been named the SBA’s Minority-owned Small Business of the Year for 2003.

“Luis and Ester Cervantes have built a strong, growing business based on service, consistency and quality product delivery,” says Joe Kennedy, vice president of Sunrise Bank of San Diego. “The Cervanteses have demonstrated strong business and financial acumen based on the growth of their business. Having been involved in the flower industry, I know that flower buyers value having a quality product delivered consistently. The company is dedicated to that simple fact.”

CalMex buys from many growers, including those in Mexico, where it gets 10 percent of its supply. In the end, it’s all about a satisfied customer. “A flower is a flower is a flower, so we want to make sure we take care of the customer,” says Luis. “When you’re treated right, you come back.”