Floraculture May 2015

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The business magazine for worldwide floriculture

Floraculture International encourages the pursuit of joint activities in areas of mutual interest with national and international societies, companies and organisations.

Agreements have been reached between Floraculture International and leading growers and trade associations in 32 countries. This unique partnership includes a complimentary copy for each member of the registered associations. Floraculture International is proud to announce the cooperation with the following associations.

For more FCI partners see page 44.

FCI’s newest partner this month:

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Table of Contents

May 2015 Volume 25 Number 5

‘You can never go wrong with flowers’ Few people had as much impact on the day-to-day management of FloraHolland as CEO Lucas Vos has. The 47-year old Huizen native officially joined FloraHolland on January 1st 2014 to spearhead a business strategy that should make the world’s largest flower auction more resilient and robust as tough times continue.

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by Ron van der Ploeg

Auction clock up and running at Veiling Rhein-Maas

Veiling Rhein-Maas (a joint venture between Landgard and FloraHolland) can look back on a successful 2014. Last year, the auction turnover exceeded €330 million, a rise of approximately 7 per cent on 2013.

by Ron van der Ploeg

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SICA d’Hyères: growers unite over floods and torrential rain

From a business standpoint, not many growers in the Var region, one of France’s epicentres of fresh cut flower production, will shed a tear with the passing of 2014.

by Marie-Françoise Petitjean

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Flower Trials bigger and better than before

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Florensis focuses on visual merchandising

At the forthcoming Flower Trials, Florensis will position their show-stopping, cuttingraised Calibrachoa Cabaret series (BallFloraPlant) as a decorative plant for classical (La Villa Roma), contemporary (Maison Paris) and modern (La Casa Barça) homes and gardens.

by Ron van der Ploeg

In honour of the 30th anniversary edition of the Salon du Végétal (February 17-18), show organiser and trade association BHR treated over 13,500 visitors to a blockbuster line-up of content and special show features.

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by Ron van der Ploeg

Russian flower market on verge of serious crisis

The Russian cut flower market is on the verge of a serious crisis and the collapse of many importers and local producers, due to the current economic crisis in the country and the devaluation of the rouble.

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by Eugene Gerden

Inaugural Myplant & Garden

The much-anticipated Flower Trials in Holland and Germany promise to be even bigger and better than ever before. It’s a not to be missed opportunity to view marketing ideas alongside the latest breeding breakthroughs in ornamental plant breeding.

by Ron van der Ploeg

30 th Salon du Végétal

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The inaugural edition of the Myplant & Garden trade show was held from February 25-27th at the Rho-Pero exhibition centre, only 15km away from Milan city centre.

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by Aldo Colombo

Columns From the editor Happy Gardening Buon Giorno

07 39 43

Departments FCI’s international partnerships International Events World News Advertising Index

4 31 41 45

Kenya in Focus

FloraCulture International is proud to present a 12-page supplement on Kenya’s ornamental horticulture.

Kenya’s country profile combines with the latest news on the IFTEX show which will be held in Nairobi from June 3-5, 2015. The Kenyathemed supplement provides information for both IFTEX visitors and exhibitors, allowing them to research and plan their IFTEX visit ahead.

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May 2015 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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FloraCulture The business magazine for worldwide floriculture

‘Concordia res parvae crescunt’ Editorial & Administration Offices FloraCulture International Hedd Alwyn Business address: ECA Office 140-21, Legmeerdijk 313, Hughes 1431 GB Aalsmeer Postal address: Postbus 1081, 1430 BB Aalsmeer T (31) 297 769 095 Circulation Administration: FBW Woerden P.O. Box 612, 3440 AP Woerden, the Netherlands T (31) 34 84 31 393 E info@fbw-woerden.nl Angie Duffree Editors: Ron van der Ploeg (ron@floracultureinternational.com) Editorial team: Chris Beytes, Lotte Bjarke, Alicja Cecot, Aldo Colombo, Arturo Croci, Audrey Gerber, Marie-Françoise Petitjean, John Sutton and Jennifer Zurko.

Founding editor: Debbie Hamrick Publisher: FloraCulture International (jaap@floracultureinternational.com) Printer: SDA Print+Media Designer: Finnmedia, Aryen Bouwmeester Copy correction and sub-editing: Vanessa Heinrich

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Europe, Africa, Asia/Pacific International Accounts Management: FloraCulture International, Business address: ECA Office 140-21, Legmeerdijk 313, 1431 GB Aalsmeer Postal address: Postbus 1081, 1430 BB Aalsmeer, the Netherlands T (31) 297 769 095 M (31) 62 21 65 220 Hedd Alwyn Hughes (hedd@floracultureinternational.com) Angie Duffree (angie@floracultureinternational.com) Italy, Southern France: Arturo Croci, (acearturo@yahoo.it) Scandinavia: Lotte Bjarke (post@lottebjarke.dk) LB Text & Idé, Søndervej 10, 8350 Hundslund, Denmark T (45) 21 48 75 30 USA, Canada, Central America: Paul Black (pblack@ballpublishing.com) Ball Publishing, 622 Town Road, PO Box 1660, West Chicago, IL 60186, United States T (1)6 30 23 13 675 F (1)6 30 23 15 254 Miami: William Armellini (william@floracultureinternational.com) China: Dr Sun Jing Xian (consultingflower@yahoo.com.cn) India: Niranjan Deshpande (team@kisan.com) T (91) 20 302 52 000

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From the editor

by Ron van der Ploeg

Khosh amadid (welcome) Iran! In a historic moment, the international B2B magazine for floriculture worldwide, FloraCulture International (FCI) and the Iranian Society for Ornamental Plants (ISOP) have come to a partnership agreement that will help them grow their businesses and learn about each other’s cultures.

Founded in 2013, ISOP is the nation’s new primary industry body representing Iran's impressive flower industry. Their mission is to build better business relationships for members and to represent the flower industry before government and business leaders.

ISOP members and relations will receive the monthly online format of FloraCulture International free of charge as a courtesy to their membership. ISOP president, Mr Pejman Azadi, the president of the ISOP underlined the importance of the newly-established business partnership as the FCI trade publication contains articles and stories relevant to the field of activity of ISOP members and will help them gain a competitive advantage.

In return, FCI will gain a better understanding of the nation’s flower industry and relevant organisations. More accurate and vivid reporting of Iran’s life style horticulture industry will help FCI to strengthen our international network, while it will hopefully boost business with Iran.

The blooming bond between FCI and ISOP comes at a time when a group of world powers known as the P5+1 – including the US, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom- and Iran are heading toward a broader rapprochement.

On April 2, the countries reached a framework deal for resolving their longstanding dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme. This could end the Western sanctions that have battered Iran’s economy for many years and make room for more intense economic and trade ties between Iran and the West.

The stakes are high for the West as the Iran nuclear deal will not only mean the cessation of Iran’s nuclear ambitions; it will also open up Iran’s vast domestic market to western trade and investment. Page 41.

This month, the first episode of Auctions around the World presents the results of a survey of 10 flower auctions, the purpose of which was to identify current practices, trends and new business models. The series provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the flower auction business and the global flower industry as a whole. Page 8.

Our correspondent in Kenya Frans van den Houdt sat down with Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Officer, Jane Ngige, who predicted a rosy forecast for the €450 million Kenya flower industry. “The flower sector in Kenya is healthy, sustainable and has a great future,” said Ngige. She continued, “It is a very lucrative business, growers and exporters keep on exploring new markets and can still make good money. So we expect lots of new investments in the coming years.” There are many reasons to do business in Kenya and therefore FloraCulture is proud to present a 12-page supplement on Kenya’s blooming horticultural industry. Kenya’s country profile is combined with the latest news on the IFTEX show, which is set to take place from June 3-5 at Nairobi’s events and meetings venue Visa Oshwal Centre.

Speaking of trade shows, pages 32 to 37 feature our highlights from the 30th anniversary edition of the Salon du Végétal (Angers, France from February 17-18), where show organiser and trade association BHR treated over 13,500 visitors to a blockbuster line-up of content and special show features. The mood was festive and upbeat with some exhibitors booking excellent orders despite lower attendance than at previous shows.

FloraCulture International (ISSN1051-9076) is published monthly.

Worldwide distribution. ©2015 FloraCulture International magazine.

All rights reserved. No portion of editorial may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.

Publisher is not liable for advertisements using illegally obtained images.

Send address changes to FloraCulture International magazine, Postal address: Postbus 1081, 1430 BB Aalsmeer, the Netherlands.

Ron van der Ploeg, editor ron@floracultureinternational.com

May 2015 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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Few people have had as much impact on the day-to-day management of FloraHolland as CEO Lucas Vos has. The 47-year old Huizen native officially joined FloraHolland on January 1st 2014 to spearhead a business strategy that should make the world’s largest flower auction more resilient and robust as tough times continue.

‘You can never go wrong with flowers’ F

loraHolland presented its new strategy for the period up to 2020 in December 2014.

The ‘Flowering the world together, planting seeds of opportunity for our members’ report provides a road map to guide and prioritize the work of the cooperative in the context of key issues affecting worldwide floriculture and our society. It specifies two main goals: better margins for the member growers and their customers and a higher consumer expenditure on cut flowers and plants.

Working closely together with FloraHolland Director of Finance Rens Buchwaldt, Lucas Vos is one of the driving forces behind FloraHolland’s new business model based on the principles of Lean Six Sigma. Simply put, the discipline increases revenue by enabling an organisation to focus on customers and quality. The focus is not just on reducing costs for the business. It is also about passing these savings on to the company’s customers to offer value for money.

Even less than 90 days to feel at home

by Ron van der Ploeg

The arrival of a new chief executive to head up a company, large or small, is always a major event— especially for the CEO. The first 100 days constitute a critical phase.

Commenting on the potential and pitfalls he encountered so far, Vos said, “It’s interesting you ask because I have a little book entitled the First 90 Days. It sort of describes a perfect situation. When everything goes well then you get your 90 days in which you work and you speak a lot to customers and employees. You don’t formulate an opinion, but you are just busy with gathering information all the time. I didn’t have that luxury as a strike was announced at the end

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | May 2015

FloraHolland CEO Lucas Vos, “The real endeavour lies in building the new competencies we need to execute our strategy.”

of January 2014. It accelerated everything. Emotions were running high and I got to speak to so many people in the industry who were grabbing on to me basically, wanting to share their feelings. Their concerns were not just about the reorganization and its social aspects, but mostly about seven years of deteriorating relationships between management and em­ployees, customers and FloraHolland. Growers were questioning themselves about the cooperative’s raison d’être at a

time when direct trade continues to increase. I was offered a very limited introduction during which time I already collected more information than I could have done in the normal 100 days.”

In business jargon, it has been said that a tree is not planted until it has been in the ground for five years. Does this reflect the time Vos thinks is needed to feel perfectly comfortable and to be in control at FloraHolland? “(laughing) Well, I don’t think my working environ-

ment will allow me five years. But it was my own decision to get a better understanding of the sector first, by meeting as many customers and growers as I can. Only after that, can I start to formulate an opinion.

Particularly when you have been in one type of industry for twenty years –in my case the shipping industry- it is easy to think that whatever was valid there will be valid in this industry as well. I didn’t want to make that mistake.

I do think people accept that I am still lacking in-depth knowledge of flowers and plants, especially when compared with people who have been working in this industry for a lifetime. I also believe they see what I can bring by uniting growers and customers and by providing a clear vision to where I feel things need to go. This is what we have accomplished with our new business vision FloraHolland 2020. At least, this is the feedback that I get from both growers and customers.”

FloraHolland’s new business strategy

This is a time of challenges and of change for FloraHolland and for the market as a whole. Vos believes that one of the major challenges for the ornamental horticulture industry is ignoring its own numbers.

“Whilst preparing our strategy, reviewing the 2007 merger process between Bloemenveiling Holland and VBA, one of the findings was that FloraHolland lost 35% of its suppliers and 30% of its customers following the merger. It also came as a surprise to both our customers and supplier growers when we told them that 20% of the top suppliers generate 84% of the FloraHolland revenue and that there is an even higher business concentration at customer level, with 20% of the customers generating 91% of the auction’s turnover. Everybody became startled as they hadn’t realised that these underlying numbers make the situation so difficult.

Another important statistic pointed out that it is only since 2011 that consumer spending on flowers and plants has been going done. This

People are just not familiar enough with flowers and plants because the industry doesn’t do its utmost to create a brand that is top of mind for consumers.

is against the common belief that consumer spending had already been dropping since 2008, since the beginning of the financial crisis. For four years now we have been losing out to our competitors such as chocolate and wine.”

A real and unexpected shock

2014 marked the year in which you ended the conflict between the organisation and the FloraHolland personnel. To Vos it meant a lot in that he was particularly interested in the reasons behind the conflict. “I can understand that FloraHolland was considered an employer for life. But times have changed and it’s an old model that hardly exists anymore. This was the first reorganization that took place in the company’s over one hundred years of existence.

So it was a real and unexpected shock. I actually think it was good that it happened, as it allowed all emotions to come out. Only if you know the true problem you can start solving it. This is where my personality becomes useful. I am told that I am a good listener. I en-

2015

Auctions around the world

joy being on the work floor and just talk to everyone. I am not afraid of admitting mistakes when I make them and I encourage others to do the same and learn from them. That helped me create a different Flora Holland.”

Vos is quick to add that some tensions are still high and that it would be naïve to think that everything will be calm and quiet in a year’s time. “At least they are out in the open, they have been discussed and join action can now be taken.

Meanwhile, the clock volume continues to drop and we have an issue with our revenues and thus with our costs. This puts us under constant pressure.”

‘Not all projects were a complete waste of time’ FloraHolland is re-engineering many aspects of its business. In January, the world’s largest flower auction announced its exit from most of its 180 projects. Lean Six Sigma provides tools to reduce waste in any process and this raises the question whether all 180 projects were a complete waste?

“No, not all of them. There was a

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combination of a lot of projects and a lot of services. We had around 340 services and 180 projects running that were about to be turned into services. Clearly, FloraHolland was not in good shape with a lot of energy going into how to improve its business. But this energy was not coordinated. Everybody was given freedom to do their stuff, but for all the good intentions, and probably sometimes also some good ideas, at the end of the day it didn’t add up.

It pulled us in all different directions, with customers complaining about our unclear message. All these services and projects actually created a lot of confusion. What was also lacking was a good methodology to assess the value of each project. But it was all driven by good intentions and there is nothing wrong with that.”

Floral Tinder or floral Air BnB

Part of FloraHolland’s new business model is the launch of a next

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | May 2015

FloraHolland’s new strategy starts with the customer in mind and Vos stresses that this is really something new to FloraHolland.

generation online trading platform.

Revealing some details of the World Flower Exchange Platform, Vos stressed first of all that FloraHolland as a physical marketplace is widely renowned with its clock prices being used to calculate reference prices all over the world. “But we see that both production and demand are moving further away.

And it would be naïve to think that this logistical hub could cater for all this supply and demand. We need to replicate the physical FloraHolland also in the virtual world.

Please don’t get me wrong. It is not our intention to introduce a virtual clock. It is more about investigating how demand and supply come together these days. Today, Air BnB, Uber and even Tinder are all prime examples of how to efficiently blend supply and demand. We shouldn’t limit ourselves to a virtual clock, but investigate how online sales really happen these days. What does a company like Amazon do? What can we learn from it or should we actually team up with a company like Amazon? Let’s use the FloraHolland brand and system in an even more productive way. I know that a lot of growers around the world are jealous of this system but how can we connect with them? For that we need to have a virtual presence and to create a value proposition. For this we hired someone from outside. He joined us on the first of April so it is a really fresh project.”

Nation-wide auctioning

Another important step FloraHolland has taken is towards a Netherlands-wide approach to auctioning. The clocks in Aalsmeer, Rijnsburg and Naaldwijk will be linked together, while the number of auction rooms will be reviewed.

Speaking about the auction business, the first question Vos asks himself is whether the auction clock is still the right marketing tool.

Introduced in the midst of a buyer’s market, the clock worked perfectly well for a long time. Until 2008, when the world turned around.

Yet, Vos is convinced that this kind of perishable industry requires a physical marketplace.

“But seriously, the amount of transport flows between our different branches in Aalsmeer, Rijnsburg and Naaldwijk involves a lot of waste and we need to find a way of getting this resolved. As for the nation-wide clock, opinions differ.

Some growers say that when their products are sold at 7 o’clock in Naaldwijk and at eight in Aalsmeer, they guarantee the price will be lower in Aalsmeer. Others say that they actually ‘play’ at the three auctions and sometimes prices are lower in Naaldwijk than in Aalsmeer. My customers are more strongly convinced though and thinking it is a good idea. Not all growers, however, are yet on board.

So we need to better understand their objections to see where we can add to the concept to make it work.

The main goal must be an auction clock that is not only good, optimal and stable, but also cheaper. As you can imagine a lot of interesting discussions are going on.”

Promotion

FloraHolland’s new strategy starts with the customer in mind. Vos agrees that this isn’t something completely new. “But it is new to FloraHolland! If you asked my customers, they never thought of FloraHolland as being a customeroriented company. It is an ongoing process with the first primary results. Instead of customers immediately shutting their doors when FloraHolland presented itself, we are now cautiously but cordially invited to come in.”

The same customers and also the growers are happy with the auction’s message that over the next few years priority will be given to promotion of flowers and plants.

On what grounds do you feel that FloraHolland has the right to think of itself as a marketing company? Vos: “Because my customers and growers are asking for it. It doesn’t mean that we need to do it all ourselves but we do need to coordinate. For that, you don’t need to have the best marketers in house, you can also hire them, working closely together with Bloemenbureau Holland. In general, we as FloraHolland are not

2015

Auctions around the world

Floral logistics involve a lot of freight movements between auction branches in Eelde, Rijnsburg and Naaldwijk and FloraHolland needs to find a way to reduce wastes in transportation.

good in marketing and this goes for the entire industry. We are light-years away from companies like Procter and Gambler and Unilever who possess intricate understanding of their consumers.”

Speaking of promotion, FloraHolland has €8 million at its disposal to drive sales and increase market share. Vos agrees that the €8 million that is now being used for consumer promotion is too ridiculous for words. But Vos’ hopes are set on an increased budget now that the Dutch Association of Wholesale Trade in Ornamental Products (VGB) has announced its renewed willingness to fund the Flower Council of Holland.

“Somehow, the VGB couldn’t agree on the payment mechanism.

VBG and FloraHolland were blaming each other but have now re-embarked on constructive talks. As for the way of payment I have no rigid opinion on this. I do know that the collecting of joint levies will go through FloraHolland. Previously, FloraHolland wanted to instruct customers on how to raise the levies. But this is clearly not our business.”

Vos perfectly realizes that the real key to making Holland’s flower

industry flourish lies with the industry itself and the businesses and organisations at its heart. But other sectors can play their part too using cross-sector promotion.

“Plenty of other industries find beauty in flowers willing to link their products to flowers. Actually, you can never go wrong with flowers,” he said.

Fierce competition

One of the biggest headaches is that fewer people of all ages buy flowers and plants.

Vos thinks that people are just not familiar enough with the product because the industry doesn’t do its utmost to create a brand that is top of mind for consumers.

Meanwhile, flowers and plants are facing non-traditional competitors such as gift cards that have become many shoppers’ desired way of giving and receiving gifts. Gift cards are so successful -not because of their powerful emotional meaning (they are often considered an impersonal and lazy gift), but because of the high profit margins at retail level.

“Supermarkets know perfectly that 15 to 20% of the gift cards will never be redeemed so they are a real money-makers.”

What’s more, for some the thought of fresh cut flowers conjures up an image of effort, time, mess and hassle. “Flower stems need to be re-cut at a sharp angle, flower food is required to help maintain the vase life of flowers and then consumers keep on running into one problem: selecting the right vase with vessels on hand always almost ending up being too big or too small. And then I haven’t even touched upon all those complicated Latin plant names or the compost bin that is always located a long distance from the back door.”

This whole industry is run by men who only think of the production mechanics and the price, whereas women are all about the value.

When asked how discomforting this situation is, Vos said, “That’s a very good point. Call it discomforting, but you can also try to discover the untapped opportunities. Our recent orchid market research, for example, has now revealed that not the price, but the colour of the plant is the main factor driving consumer preference.”

Member growers

eter of the financial state of its members. Across the board Vos can see improvements in business performance. “Banks are telling me that the companies’ solvency is improving. A lot of them have hit rock bottom financially and a large number of companies were forced to close their doors. Particularly annoying for growers is that, whilst they can control their own actions, they also depend on external events or processes that they have no control over.

So far, this year has been very unpredictable due to a highly volatile market with fluctuating exchange rates. Take for example the rouble versus euro exchange rate, which badly impacted International Women’s Day sales, while the euro versus pound sterling exchange rate boosted English Mother’s Day sales. In the southern hemisphere, my Kenyan and Ethiopian growers badly suffer from the euro when the currency fell to a record low against the dollar in January. The situation is dreadful, as their costs are in dollar while their revenues are in euro or local currencies that are linked to the dollar. And it is exactly these things that are outside of our sphere of influence

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The financial results of an auction are not automatically a barom-

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that prompt banks to ensure growers increasingly opt for contract growing with predetermined prices that then again puts our cooperative under pressure.”

In 2013, FloraHolland calculated that the average return at grower’s level was 1%. Interestingly, also the return among the customers was with an estimated 2% equally low.

Profits being bad on both sides, creates some kind of shared pain that brings supplier growers and buyers together. “They become increasingly aware that there is no point of fighting each other as the real enemy is outside the supply chain. The enemy, for example, is the gift card downsizing our slice of the business pie. The reality is that most of the money in the supply chain is generated in breeding and at the point of sale. So the closer and more involved you are at the beginning or at the end of the chain the more money you earn.

Once those who are halfway up the supply chain start to realise this, they will team up to have their fair share of the market too,” predicted Vos.

Clock

In the Netherlands, the future of the auction clock is under heavy debate.

Buyers increasingly complain about the inferior quality of clock-sold products. They jokingly describe the auction clock as a ‘shower drain’. But saying that the clock is the auction’s new Achilles heel is a bridge too far for Vos. “Despite all the negativity spread around it, it is stronger than I thought it would be. Clock sales during the first quarter of the year didn’t disappoint. Those who have been betting on the clock have done much better than those who established predetermined prices. Clock prices have been excellent with 7% higher prices compared to last year, while prices in contract farming were 10% lower. Playing a key role was market uncertainty in the run up to International Women’s Day with very few long term contracts or contacts stipulating very low prices.

It led to last minute purchases at the clock or in direct sales where prices are closely linked to the clock. It resulted in an overall surge in clock prices. I am actually convinced that this perishable, daily fresh product

Saying that the clock is the auction’s new Achilles heel is a bridge too far for Lucas Vos.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | May 2015

needs a market place like ours, we only need to improve ourselves in market regulation. If people decide to use our clock as a dumping ground , let’s be open and honest about it and create a second channel for them. And maybe we should then create a separate place for those suppliers who are reliable and trustworthy all year round.

All this draws comparisons with the situation at airports these days.

Flying KLM or EasyJet are two completely different experiences.

The pertinent question concerning our own business is why should our products all pass through the same gate? The differentiation of our goods is a key concept, because the customer thinks he buys A while he is actually purchasing B quality.”

Future

What do you perceive as the key issues for your auction in the coming year? “I don’t want to sound like a broken record but THE key issue is to get to the consumers and nothing else; to better understand

them and to get our product top of their mind.”

Asked about the greatest risk of the adopted Lean Six Sigma philosophy, Vos concluded, “The risk is that we cannot deliver. We need to understand, to collect important data, we need to be very good in IT and marketing so the biggest risk is that we have this wonderful strategy but just don’t know how to do it. Of course there is a risk surrounding the amount of buildings and land that we have, but I can feel now the pull from customers, so I am a little bit less concerned about that. Looking at the economy in the short term, I don’t expect things will deteriorate any further right now though I cannot guarantee that longer term.

Right now the economy’s outlook is pretty good. All in all, FloraHolland’s impressive real estate is a burden, especially when you know that product volumes will go down with the trade being increasingly direct.

But I think we can manage. The real endeavour lies in building the new competencies we need to execute our strategy.” |||

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Auctions around the world

While in the Netherlands the debate continues to rage on about the future of the auction clock, the auction clock in Herongen is up and running.

Veiling Rhein-Maas (a joint venture between Landgard and FloraHolland) can look back on a successful 2014. In 2014, the auction turnover exceeded €330 million, a rise of approximately 7 per cent on 2013.

Auction clock up and running at Veiling Rhein-Maas W

by Ron van der Ploeg

hile in the Netherlands the debate continues to rage on about the future of the auction clock with efforts to revive the more than 100 year- old marketing tool, the auction clock in Herongen is up and running.

“From our 6.6% increase in turnover, 4.7% originates from increased

Veiling Rhein-Maas quick facts Year of foundation: 2010 2013 turnover : €316 2014 turnover: €335 (a rise of approximately 7% on 2013) SALES VOLUMES IN 2014 cut flowers: 692 million stems potted plants: 72 million units garden plants: 149 million units Supplying growers: 2400 Buyers: 1600

clock sales. In 2014, clock sales took an 87% share of the overall turnover, while sales through the auction mediation service represented 13% of the total revenues,” said Veiling Rhein-Maas CEO Ruud Knorr.

Strengthening auction clock

He went on to say that his company is all geared towards strengthening the future auction clock. In pot plants, for example, pot plant growers participate in the online Jahresanliefermeldung and the Wochenmeldung, an annual and weekly pot plant supply prognosis, which greatly enhance the auction clock’s reliability in terms of balanced supplies. “As long as clock sales ensure top quality products, there will always be room for a live auction. We believe that the auc-

tion clock will remain a strong tool for price setting in cut flower and pot plant sales,” said Knorr.

Bolstering grower-buyer relationships

Veiling Rhein-Maas is determined to develop close, mutually productive relationships with growers and buyers. “In an attempt to bolster grower-buyer relations, we organised an ‘Inspiring and Connecting’themed event at the start of the new year,” said Knorr.

In an earlier interview with FCI, ‘Knorr stated that no fewer than 60 buyers this past year were brand new to the auction in Herongen.

The new buyer’s audience included wholesalers, florists and Dutch exporters trading remotely. “Last year's success, including the opportunity to welcome many new customers, can be attributed to

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personal and individual guidance, hand in hand with the countless innovative projects that Veiling Rhein-Maas initiated in 2014 and will continue into 2015. One major innovation was the pre-sales of sample plant lots that allow customers to obtain a fixed price for their products prior to the auction as well as the "Premium Qualität" distinction for Callunas and Helleborus.”

French market

Last year, Veiling Rhein-Maas started to tap into the Belgian and French markets by appointing a new regional account manager.

This appointment is in line with Veiling Rhein-Maas' aim to market itself as a cross-regional auction and to attract international customers to the market place, including those from East European countries.

In 2015, extending the assortment, making it broader and more complete, will also be the focus

Distribution area at Veiling Rhein-Maas.

of intensive efforts. This project will be in close collaboration with customers. Additionally, Veiling Rhein-Maas will keep its quality policy in place. “After all it is greatly appreciated by our suppliers. As part of this, the future role of the quality inspector will focus more on coaching than traditional inspections,“ anticipated Knorr.

Minimum price at clock

Veiling Rhein-Maas CEO Ruud Knorr.

Meanwhile, the support for adding a minimum price at the clock is growing among growers. “The plans to introduce a minimum price coincide with a nation-wide Wertschätzung debate concentrating on the real value of a product in relation to its price. We started with lavandula, primula and agyranthemum. What we saw

was that customers didn’t hesitate to buy these 3 crops even for a minimum price, higher than the lowest bids from the past. Hardly any grower is opposed to increasing the minimum price, but the question is how far can you go? You should avoid overestimating the value of the product. At the end of the day each buyer should be able to make his own decision. There is a risk of losing buyers with Veiling Rhein-Maas prices getting too high compared to other suppliers in the marketplace. These steps have to be made carefully; we will definitely not exaggerate and increase the price to 1 euro. Last year, this project was so successful that we will also introduce a minimum price for several other products, including Pelargonium, in 2015.” |||

Steady supply for Veiling Rhein-Maas in Q1 of 2015 Overall, the first three months of 2015 were positive for Veiling Rhein-Maas, and although the weather at the start of the year was less mild and spring-like than in Q1 of 2014, a total of 4% more turnover was achieved this year. In particular, the increased number of products sold via Clock Service positively influenced the turnover.

This year, the Euregion had comparatively fewer hours of light at the beginning of the year, as a result of which products offered by suppliers from this area were supplied to the auction clock later than usual.

Meanwhile, Valentine's Day fell at the same time as the Carnival period this year, which reduced

demand from end-consumers and influenced sales at the clock.

In comparison to Q1 of 2014, the increase in average prices at Veiling Rhein-Maas was slightly higher throughout Q1 of 2015. Within cut flowers, tulips showed consistently good pricing and a higher demand. By the end of Q1, there

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was an upward trend in the plants segment as regards the sales of plant bowls and arrangements.

All in all, Veiling Rhein-Maas can look back on a satisfying Q1 2015 – one without supply excesses and which saw support being offered for the first time through the use of electronically submitted year

supply messages. At the end of the first quarter, i.e. on 31 March 2015, the auction made its online environment public and it expects to see a steady increase in supply and demand via this new sales channel.

From a business standpoint, not many growers in the Var region, one of France’s epicentres of fresh cut flower production, will shed a tear with the passing of 2014. Fierce winds and torrential rains battered the south of France for days in February 2014, while plastic greenhouses were damaged after a devastating hailstorm in September. Just one month later heavy rains again caused widespread flooding.

by Marie-Françoise Petitjean

2015

Auctions around the world

SICA d’Hyères: growers unite over floods and torrential rain

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ICA (Societé d’Intérêt Collectif Agricole) Marché aux Fleurs development director Gilles Rus said that the bad situation was made even worse due to a very mild and wet winter causing a drop in quality and lower yields in peonies, Ranunculus and Anemones as these are typical crops that need a cold dormant period to bloom and thrive.

A spirit of solidarity and community

According to Gilles the first flood hit around thirty growers. "The dire weather gave rise to a spirit of solidarity and community," he said expressing his admiration for the desire of people to stand up and clean up, and not to be laid low by the waters. “We as SICA offered support by lending trucks and granting cash advance to the most heavily touched growers. Then, just six months later, a hailstorm wreaked havoc on crops and growing systems of 100 growers; 40 of them saw their greenhouses completely ravaged. The October floods

had even wider consequences on the human scale, while there was less damage in agricultural production.”

Commenting on the 2013-2014 spring sales season Gilles said, “We ended 2014 with a 7 % drop in supply, resulting in a subsequent 7% decrease in turnover. But fortunately, the 2015 spring selling season is off to a good start with a 2% increase in turnover in March. All this reminds us how extremely sensitive to the weather our business is.”

Branding locally grown flowers

Meanwhile, SICA d’Hyères continue to evolve its business strategy focusing on flowers and foliage that are specific to the Mediterranean area and can be grown in a sustainable way. “Some growers see possibilities in growing their flowers in raised crop gutters. This would reduce flood risks and allow a quick start off in production,” explained Gilles.

In order to consolidate its position in the florist market, SICA has developed a network of florist partners, associated to promote flowers from the south of France using the ‘Var, Land of Flowers’ tagline. This branding is a vital part of a wider campaign including promotional gadgets and goodies and Facebook exposure. Lately, florists are also requiring the new ‘Fleurs de France’ label on flower bunches. “Currently 650 florists participate in the network, with good feedback from our promotion campaign,” added Gilles Rus. SICA does not forget about its traders and retailers. It strengthened its commercial staff for a closer customer follow-up and a better balance between supply and demand. The request for preordering flowers are growing. In Anemones

and Ranunculus, intermediate sales make up more than 50% of SICA’s turnover. "It has two advantages," outlined Gilles, He added, “Secure sales and stable clock prices".

Plantion

Though SICA acts locally, they think globally. A new cooperation has been set up with the Plantion auction in Ede, Netherlands to develop both ways floral trade flows.

Sales of French Mediterranean flowers, such as Anemones, Ranunculus, but also Snapdragon and Carqueirane-grown large flowered tulips made their debut at Plantion's clock in 2014, with satisfying results and supply being consistent from January to May. Soon talks will start to discuss the possibilities of marketing Plantion flowers at SICA d’Hyères to complement their product range.

Gilles recognised that this is not a new phenomenon as SICA is already buying Chrysanthemums from the Netherlands and also roses from Africa.

However, the new partnership with Plantion will not only focus on early spring sales but will also take into account the second semester, when local production is low. "We are considering purchasing summer flowers for instance, to meet the demand of our customers,” said Gilles, who ended by saying that the General Assembly of the international flower trade association, Union Fleurs, which took place from 16 to 19 April 2015 in Hyères, offered a great opportunity to highlight the region’s outstanding variety in flowers and discuss key issues with traders from all parts of the world. |||

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Flower Trials The muchanticipated Flower Trials in Holland and Germany promise to be even bigger and better than ever before. It’s a not to be missed opportunity to view marketing ideas alongside the latest breeding breakthroughs in ornamental plant breeding.

Flower Trials bigger and better than before

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his year’s event, which is set to take place from Tuesday to Friday, 9th to 12th June, will bring together 49 companies offering a once-a-year chance to discover a wide range of bedding plants, houseplants, perennials and cut flowers while enjoying friendly hospitality and exceptional food and tropical drinks.

It goes without saying that the Flower Trials 2015 are a must-attend event as they provide a wealth of information from the experts; breeders, growers, florists, garden retailers, wholesalers, seed suppliers, plug producers, landscapers and garden designers. They will all be on hand for a chat!

The Flower Trials deliver undoubtedly the most spectacular showcase of the newest plant innovations.

Speaking of novelties, Japan-based breeder Suntory, working together with its European licensor Moerheim, has announced their new Bidens Bee Dance. One of the latest additions to the Suntory Collection Europe, Bidens Bee Dance won the 2015 IPM Innovation Award in the category Best Bedding and Balcony Plants. According to the panel of judges, the large, two-tone yellow and red flowers are truly unique.

Another important breeding breakthrough for the 2015 Flower Trials comes from Florensis, the leading ornamental grower, producer and distribution operation

of seedlings from seeds and cuttings from Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht. They positioned their show-stopping, cutting-raised Calibrachoa Cabaret series (BallFloraPlant) as a decorative plant for classical (La Villa Roma), contemporary (Maison Paris) and modern (La Casa Barça) homes and gardens. Making their official debut at the Flower Trials is the company’s Can-Can Rosies series. It includes a full range of semi-trailing and double flowering Calibrachoa, that produces masses of flowers all throughout summer while offering the extra benefit of being drought resistant. ||| Registration, addresses, road maps and show opening hours are available online www.flowertrials.com

Moerheim New Plant

Unique plants, marketing concepts and more Moerheim and 48 other companies are gearing up to provide a great spectacle during the 2015 FlowerTrials ( 9–12 June). Industry professionals are invited to visit Moerheim’s New Plant Selection Centre in Leimuiderbrug, Netherlands. Here they will be treated to a vintage-inspired presentation of the full range plants marketed under the Suntory® Collection Europe brand. What’s more, the Moerheim show will give a comprehensive overview of all novelty plants for 2016.

Bee sure you don’t miss BEEDANCE ®. Winning the prize for best introduction at the IPM 2015 in the category Bedding and Balcony Plants, this new Bidens is available in two unique colours and is strongly attractive to bees and butterflies. BEEDANCE ® offers consumers the chance to care for their environment by creating a vivid biodiversity in their gardens and on their balconies. The first bees of this season are already spotted flying around BEEDANCE ® in the Moerheim New Plant selection greenhouse!

The new varieties from the Suntory® Collection are sold together with a complete package of creative POP materials. The specially designed artwork is elaborated in SmartCups, labels, store displays, brochures and many more POP materials. This way, Suntory varieties are impossible to miss by consumers in stores.

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Weteringweg 3A, 2155 MV Leimuiderbrug The Netherlands T +31 (0) 172 50 67 00 www.moerheim.com

Flower Trials Four months after picking up the highest accolade in Dutch horticulture, the Dutch Horticultural Entrepreneur Award, the mood at Florensis is festive, with their entire team being still riding on an adrenaline rush. The award recognises progressive growers who embrace technology and modern, sustainable production practices, deliver strong customer service, demonstrate industry leadership and market innovatively.

Florensis focuses on visual and eco- friendly merchandising

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peaking of innovative marketing, at the forthcoming Flower Trials the leading ornamental grower, producer and distribution operation of seedlings from seeds and cuttings from Hendrik-IdoAmbacht will position their showstopping, cutting-raised Calibrachoa Cabaret series (BallFloraPlant) as a decorative plant for classical (La Villa Roma), contemporary (Maison Paris) and modern (La Casa Barça) homes and gardens.

The branding philosophy provides Florensis with a visual basis for product innovation in Cabaret stand-alone pots, All-Cabaret mixes and Multi-Species mixes (including Calibrachoa Cabaret, Petunia Sun Spun, Verbenia Aztec, Lobelia Hot Springs or Bidens Sunbeam). This distinctive shelf presentation in matching styles and colours, offers retailers not only one but three ways to inspire and seduce consumers!

Extensive breeding efforts

by Ron van der Ploeg

A relative newcomer to the garden scene, Calibrachoa truly deserves some more brand recognition, even if it was only for the extensive breeding

The branding philosophy provides Florensis with a visual basis for product innovation in Cabaret Stand-alone pots, All-Cabaret mixes and Multi-Species mixes.

efforts the plant has experienced over the past two decades. Calibrachoa Cabaret, for example, stands out with its bold colours, broad retail appeal and extreme uniformity across the series (10 colours readily available).

Every new colour that’s added or upgraded to Cabaret must meet the same criteria as the rest of the series in flower timing, habit uniformity, production timing and culture.

Slightly more vigorous than Cabaret, the Can-Can series (BallFloraPlant) offers highly programmable Calibrachoas, featuring consistent pH tolerance, eye-catching contrast between boldly coloured flowers and dark foliage and tip-to-top flower coverage. Can-Can Calibrachoas are available in seven colours and stand out for their one-of-a-kind colours with strong vigour for full-bodied containers and mixed combos. They are well-suited for 15-cm pots up to large hanging baskets.

Can-Can Rosies Making its official debut at the IPM Essen, was the Can-Can Rosies series, including a full range of semi-trailing and double flowering Calibrachoa.

Following its official debut at the IPM Essen, the Can-Can Rosies

series will occupy pride of place at this year’s Flower Trials. It includes a full range of semitrailing and double flowering Calibrachoa, that produces masses of flowers all throughout summer while offering the extra benefit of being drought resistant. All seven colours in the Can-Can Rosies range are early flowering and make for stunning All- CanCan Rosies mixes or MultiSpecies mixes.

Eco herbs

Jumping on the bandwagon of organic certification, Florensis is proud to announce their line of SKAL certified eco herbs, sold under the brand name Growing Green. Growing Green includes no fewer than 65 of the tastiest and most attractive cutting-raised pot herbs such as Allium schoenoprasum, Artemisia dracunculus, Foeniculum vulgare, Mentha piperita, Salvia officinalis, Rosmarinus officinalis and Thymus vulgaris. |||

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FloraCulture The business magazine for worldwide floriculture

W W W.FLOR ACULT UREIN T ERN AT ION A L .COM

ROSY FORECAST FOR KENYA’S FLOWER INDUSTRY The success story unveiled

IFTEX SHOW IN FULL BLOOM

The country’s premier trade show for ornamental horticulture set for June 3-5

Kenya in focus How its flowers are seducing consumers the world over

Taking place from June 3-5 at Nairobi’s ultra-modern events and meetings venue, Visa Oshwal Centre, IFTEX ranks among the world’s fastest growing horticultural trade exhibitions.

IFTEX AT A GLANCE Dates: June 3 – 5, 2015 Trade show hours: Wednesday June 3rd 11.00 – 18.00 Thursday June 4th 10.00 – 18.00 Friday June 5th 10.00 – 1800 Venue: Oshwal Centre Nairobi Kenya T +31 20 6622 482 patricia@hpp.nl www.iftex.org

IFTEX show in full bloom

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ow in its fourth year, IFTEX proudly announces that it will be adding another 5.000m² to its show floor.

Ideally located in East Africa, IFTEX is not only THE meeting place for the Kenyan flower industry, it also attract large numbers of industry professionals from other flower producing countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Record-breaking exhibition

IFTEX is arguably heading to become one of the leading flower trade exhibitions. Last year’s event marked a new record by attracting 3,231 buyers from 54 countries across the globe.

The IFTEX show is a relatively new trade show, meaning that lay out and visitor profile are in constant evolution. “The show develops at dazzling speed. It has a fresh face at every turn, there is no telling where

it is heading but what is clear, is its phenomenal growth towards a world class trade exhibition,” said show organiser Jasper van Dijk from HPP. The 3-day event, which will be held June 3-5 at Nairobi’s Oshwal Centre is set to attract over 3,200 international visitors from 54 countries across the globe, including commercial growers, floral wholesalers and retailers. Last year, the show also set new records for exhibit space with 187 exhibitors showcasing the latest breeding breakthroughs in fresh cut flowers. ”This a truly a great achievement and perfectly in line with are mission of bringing the world to source flowers in the country where they are grown,” said Van Dijk.

IFTEX Awards

Occupying pride of place is the annual IFTEX Awards ceremony where the world’s top growers and breeders battle it out to win the coveted IFTTEX Best in Show

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Kenya in focus

Awards. Last year, Select Breeding was presented with the Iftex Platinum Award for its ‘SunQueen’, while Uhuru Flowers was crowned Best Grower for its Rosa ‘Maritim’.

IFTEX has given the Kenya flower industry a different face with renewed worldwide attention especially from flower buyers who will come to Nairobi this June to seek and speak in Kenya with their suppliers. The internationalisation of the fair has lead the event to grow into a top Kenya flower brand event, strengthening the country’s position as a leader in global markets while enhancing the image of Kenya as the home from where 40% of the flowers sold in Europe originate.

“IFTEX came at the right time for the Kenya flower industry, since it is now in the process of market consolidation and retention by positioning its flowers as responsibly grown and that picture can only be seen at a show in the country itself,” said Jane Ngige CEO of the Kenya Flower Council. |||

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Jane Ngige, Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Officer, predicts a rosy forecast for the €450 million Kenya flower industry.

Rosy forecast for Kenya’s flower industry “T

by Frans van den Houdt

he flower sector in Kenya is healthy, sustainable and has a great future”, says Jane Ngige. She continued, “It is a very lucrative business, growers and exporters keep on exploring new markets and can still make good money. So we expect lots of new investments in the coming years.”

Jane Ngige, Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Officer.

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Challenging time

Last year she was much less optimistic, when Kenya and the other members of the East African Community (Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) failed to meet the deadline of the European Union to sign a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Brussels therefore introduced an import levy for Kenyan flower exporters of 5 to 8,5 percent. (The other EAC-members are all classified as least developed nations and were therefore exempted).

When the agreement was finally signed and endorsed late last year, the levy was dropped, but for several months the sector had to pay.

“That was a challenging time for us, threatening our competitive edge in the region, because other flower exporters like Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda didn't have to pay the levy,” recalled Ngige. She added, “Luckily enough this situation lasted only a short time, and now it's full steam ahead again.”

Tremendous growth

It all started more than thirty years ago, highlighted recently at the Dutch embassy in Nairobi when one of the pioneers, Dutchman Hans Zwager of Oserian, was made an Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau. Zwager, a former banker, turned his 5ha vegetable farm on the shores of Lake Naivasha in 1982 slowly into a flower farm. Soil, water, climate and hours of sunshine proved ideal for the production of roses, carnations, bouquet fillers and summer flowers. It marked the start of one of Kenya's most successful agricultural sectors at the moment.

Kenya’s floriculture industry has seen a tremendous growth in the last three decades. From 10,946 tons in 1988, to 86,480 tons in 2006, 117,713 tons in 2009, 120,220 tons in 2010, 121,891 tons in 2011 and 123,511 in 2012 and 124,858 tons in 2013. Total value in 2013 : 450 million euros. In the

2015

Kenya in focus first ten months of 2014 113.440 tons of flowers were exported with a total value of 460 million euros.

The sector directly employs about 90.000 people at farms and half a million Kenyans depend indirectly on floriculture for their income.

Value addition at source The European Union is Kenya's most important export market for flowers, with almost 88 percent going there, being a market share of 38 percent. About 66 percent of the flowers are sold through the Dutch auctions, but direct sales to supermarkets and florists in the UK (17%), Germany (5%) , Russia, the US and new markets like Japan, South Korea and Australia (the remaining 12 percent) are increasing. As well as pre-sales through the internet.

Leading to more value addition at source, such as the assembling of bouquets, labelling and sleeving.

Approximately 30 percent of Kenyan flowers are sold this way.

“The process started years ago,” said Niall Deacon, general manager at the P.J.Dave Group, with 150 ha one of Kenya's largest producers of roses, with farms in Isinya and Timau. “More and more growers consider sales through the auction expensive, time consuming and cumbersome.”

Jane Ngige added, “Definitely, Kenyan growers have worked hard to diversify their markets beyond Europe. They are always on the look-out for the best destination for their products. And we keep on doing our best to penetrate deeper into these markets, so as to increase direct sales to flower shops, supermarkets and wholesalers instead of just going through the auctions.”

More land under flowers The total area under flowers grew in 2014 with 200 hectare to a total of 3700 hectares. It's mostly roses that are grown, followed by carnations, Alstroemeria, Gypsophilla, lilies, Eryngiums, Ornithogalum arabicum, Hypericum and Statice.

In the near future a growth of at least 5 percent per year is expected. This growth will be

Kenyan growers have worked hard to diversify their markets beyond Europe.

Rose breeding

mainly realised by existing farms that, apart from the main growing areas of Naivasha and Nakuru, are setting up farms in relatively new areas such as Timau, Nanyuki, Kitengela, Isinya and Thika. But some farms are completely new, owned by Indians, Russians , Kenyans and Colombians.

“The tendency by existing companies to start a second and third farm at higher altitudes, for the production of high quality largeheaded roses (5cm), in the Mount Kenya region (Timau, Nanyuki), has by now more or less reached its peak,” outlined a Dutch crop advisor working in Kenya. He expects the total area around Mount Kenya to increase to 250 hectares this year.

“The high end production, however, is under pressure as a result of the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine and the weak rouble. Companies that sell a lot to the Russian market therefore had to put their expansion plans on hold for the time being. A company like Subati BV wanted to expand with another 100 ha but has shelved its plans.”

The direct sales to supermarkets in Europe consist mainly of intermediates (3.5-4.0 cm) and super intermediates (4.0-4.5 cm).

Zantedeschia is one of the country’s ornamental top crops.

Rose breeding is another important segment of the industry. All Dutch breeders (De Ruiter, Lex+, Preesman, Interplant, Olij Breeding, Schreurs, Terra Nigra, WAC, Select Breeding) have a branch in Kenya nowadays. “They have to be present, otherwise you can't survive as plant breeder,” according to the crop advisor. “This makes it much easier for the country to maintain its position as leading rose exporter in the world. Because the breeders can concentrate fully on the development of new species that are most suitable for East Africa.”

Continued on page 26

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The latest trend however is that breeders leave Kenya for Uganda, Tanzania and West Africa (Ghana), because of increasing production costs and tougher rules and safety measures.

Production costs

Although the production costs have risen sharply during the last five years, with labour costs going up with an average of 10 percent per year (about 35% of total production costs of an average rose farm) , the cost of fuel recently went down significantly due to low oil prices. But the dollar has become more expensive towards the euro and inputs like fertiliser and pesticides are paid for in dollars, while earnings are mostly in euros. “A dollar that is 15 percent more expensive has therefore a huge impact on the sector,” says a market analyst.

At the same time, farms had to invest hugely in measures that make them more efficient, environment friendly and sustainable. Ngige: “Consumers in Europe become more critical, they demand environmentally friendly grown flowers. It means that growers have to minimise the use of water and pesticides and invest in renewable energy like solar, bio gas and thermo. All necessary to reduce the emission of CO2.”

An experiment to ship fresh flowers in refrigerated containers to Holland, paid for by the Dutch government, turned out to be successful but hasn't had much following yet.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) section at one of Kenya’s rose farms.

Oserian’s Hamish Ker.

For a list of exhibitors, see pages 26-27.

Ecosystem under threat

One area that received an awful lot of media attention was Lake Naivasha and its surroundings. Years ago, environmentalists raised the alarm over dwindling water levels and pollution and warned that the ecosystem was in danger. Fingers were pointed at the many flower farms that surround the fresh water lake.

“It is true that the pressure on the lake has immensely increased the last thirty years because of the growth of the flower and vegetable farms and the tens of thousands of workers that migrated to this area,” commented Joseph Kariuki of the Lake Naivasha Growers Group (LNNG). “But it turned out that not the farms were the main polluters, but the many farmers who live along the feeder rivers Malewa and Gilgil.”

Early eighties, when the flower business took root, there were about 240.000 people living in the Naivasha Lake Basin, thirty years later there are more than 750.000. The number of lake-farms has reached 50, with flower production covering 1200 ha.

Water management

The last few years the situation has drastically improved because of the

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efforts of organisations like LNNG, Kenya Flower Council, Lake Naivasha Water Resource Users Association and Imarisha Naivasha.

“Not only because of better water management and controlled use of pesticides and fertilisers by the many growers along the lake, but mostly because of more efficient, environmentally friendly farm methods by the many small scale life stock farmers upstream. But still, a lot more has to be done,” stressed Kariuki.

“Good water management by all parties is the only way to make sure that future generations can also rely on the lake for their supplies,” said Richard Fox, general manager of Finlays Kenya and chairman of the Kenya Flower Council. He continued, “Recycling, hydroponics and a better and more efficient management on large international and small local farms is crucial. Several farms run pilots at the moment to see what works best.”

Van den Berg Rose has joined a water project run by Green Farming, a Dutch programme aimed at improving horticulture in Kenya and Ethiopia in an environmentally friendly way. “We have joined this pilot because we are always looking

for ways to optimise our production, to keep the costs per stem as low as possible”, said owner Arie van den Berg. “At the same time we want to protect the environment.

That means reduction of the use of water, fertilisers and pesticides,” added Van den Berg.

Labour rights

On the other hand, growers have to make sure they produce according to international standards like GobalGap and Fair Trade and respect the rights of their workers, since reports about (sexual) abuse of farm labourers and poor working conditions have done a lot of harm to Kenyan companies. Commenting on this issue, Jane Ngige said, “Farms that don't comply won't play any significant role anymore at the European market. Consumers will just reject them.”

To keep the flower companies on their toes, the Kenya Flower Council developed a Code of Practice for its members. There are two standards: Silver and Gold. Apart from yearly certification audits KFC also carries out unannounced audits on 10 percent of the certified producers. At the end of 2014, 80 flower farms were member of KFC,

representing between 50 and 60 percent of the total flower exports from Kenya.

Despite these recommendations and rules, in the last two years the sector had to cope with negative stories in the press about tax evasion. According to the Kenyan Revenue Authority (KRA) some companies violate the law through so-called transfer pricing, by selling large quantities of flowers far under their actual price to a subsidiary in a third country and then sell them for the full price to Europe. KFC at the same time had to deal with the newly formed county governments that, thirsty for money, were eying flower companies to impose new taxes on them. So far the lobbying by KFC has been succesful.

Power generation from flower farm waste.

Domestic market

Apart from growing roses, carnations, fillers and summer flowers for European and world markets, Kenyans (especially small-sized farms) nowadays produce increasingly for a growing local market.

With a vibrant middle class, more people have money to spend on 'luxury' items like flowers to decorate their homes, parties and

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Kenya in focus

celebrations. Ngige dubs it ‘a great development ' for a country that wants to be an internationally reputed flower nation.

How big the local market for flowers exactly is and how fast it is growing, isn't clear since there are no statistics available. KFC believes that about 5 percent of the locally produced flowers end up in local shops and stalls. The expectation is that this will double or even triple in the coming years.

And it's not only flowers from small scale farmers that are sold in the streets of Nairobi, some produce from big export companies also ends up with local vendors.

These are mainly stems that don't qualify for foreign markets.

The world’s fourth largest rose producer

Biogas electricity system at Eureka Holdings.

At the moment the country is the fourth largest flower producer in the world (behind Ecuador, Holland and Colombia). When asked what position Kenya will have in five years time, Kenya Flower Council CEO Jane Ngige hesitates before answering, “A lot depends on the developments in the other countries, but we shall be very happy if we can achieve our goal of 5 percent growth a year and at least hold position four worldwide.”

To remain competitive, Kenyan growers however have to diversify, Ngige stressed. “Only then we shall be able to satisfy the wishes of ever demanding European customers.” |||

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Flower farms in Kenya are throwing money down the drain, literally.

Post-harvest treatment solution is used once and consumes a lot of chemicals, energy and water which then needs to be disposed of.

The good news: there is a new environmentally friendly ultrafiltration recycling system that can recycle and purify this water to a very high degree while reducing the overall cost of production.

New post-harvest water recycling technology for Kenya’s flower industry T he system, developed by Pure Water Solutions Ltd in conjunction with Hardi Kenya’s Florissant 810 post-harvest treatment, is gaining ground since its introduction in September. According to Brandon Barbour who has been crisscrossing the flower growing zones in Kenya explaining how the system works, Ruiru based Red Lands Roses makes history as the first farm where it is running at full throttle.

“Having talked at length to a number of farmers and asking them what the fundamental requirements of a post-harvest solution was we realised we could, in conjunction with modern post-harvest solutions, produce a mechanical system to fulfil their wishes and save them money,” said Brandon.

Ultrafiltration

Pure Water Solutions is currently building the second commercial system for a Timau-based flower farm. “This is the first plant we know of in the world using ultrafil-

Benefits ultrafiltration recycling system • Less energy • Less water • Less post-harvest chemicals

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Kenya in focus

• Less Waste •C lean post-harvest water – longer vase life

tration for post-harvest recycling,” Brandon said when Kenya’s leading horticultural news source, HortiNews, visited the state-of-the-art farm Red Lands Roses to see how the system works. This development puts Kenya on the world map, a step that will greatly improve the image of its flowers as grown under green energy.

Significant cost reductions

Red Lands Roses managing director, Aldric Spindler, says the farm adopted the system on the strength of savings on cooling energy, water preservation, post-harvest chemicals, time, labour and money. “Water is a scarce commodity, energy is costly, preservation chemicals are expensive and Brandon’s technology helps in significant reductions leading to overall cost benefits,” he said adding that the payback time for the investment is one year.

Environmental programmes

It is also a big plus for the National Mechanism for industry-wide compliance, a programme that is being spearheaded by the Kenya Flower Council to demonstrate that the country produces its flowers in an environmentally sustainable manner minimising use of water and energy.

By the same token, the technology will add to the efforts being undertaken for the Carbon Reduction and Opportunities Toolkit. This indicates how much water and energy go into the flower production chain to maintain the Grown Under the Sun label; an indicator that flowers from Kenya have been produced in a low carbon emission environment for better prices and market access.

Additional benefits

Reducing energy and water usage are not the only gains in the ultrafiltration post-harvest recycling system pack. “Before this technology, farms threw away the water with all post-harvest ingredients. This need not happen anymore,” says Brandon. The filtered water retains the chemicals, topped up each cycle to required levels, resulting in savings on the chemical and associated environmental benefits.

The system can incorporate insulated tanks where the post-harvest water, chilled from the cold room, is quickly collected and the cold energy locked in. It then passes through an ultrafiltration membrane where viruses, bacteria and dirt are eliminated. A tiny amount of the post-harvest chemical is dosed into the water through an automatic pH control mechanism to replenish what was used up and then the water is ready to go back to the field for the next harvest.

Clean water

Starting with sterile clean water, keeping it cold and at a lower pH eradicates the chance for bacteria to develop since they hate acidic cold environments. The post-harvest chemical also contains a bactericide. With the greatly reduced consumption of the specially formulated Florissant 810 post-harvest chemical, flower growers previously making their own home-brews can now also afford to use a more sophisticated product.

Says Brandon, “The only water thrown away to the wetland is the backwash from the filter, meaning a farm using this technology disposes of only about 5% of its post-harvest water, instead of 100%.” |||

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International Events May 2015 5 to 7. United States National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. www.nationalhardwareshow.com 7 to 10. United Kingdom Malvern Spring Festival. www.rhs.org.uk 19 to 23. United Kingdom RHS Chelsea Flower Show. www.rhs.org.uk 21-23. Azerbaijan Agrihort, 9th Azerbaijan International Agriculture Exhibition in Baku.

Agrihort@ceo.az www.agrihort.az 26-29. Iran The 22nd edition of Iran Agro will take place at the Tehran International Fairgrounds and takes places against the background of a strong upward trend in Eu trade with Iran. www.iran-agro.com 28 May to 1 June. Ireland Bloom 2015 is Ireland’s most important flower & garden show which will take place in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. www.bloominthepark.com 31 May- 3 June. Sweden ISHS 18th International Symposium on Horticultural Economics and Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp. www.slu.se/ ishseconomicman2015 June 2015 3 to 5. Kenya Iftex, International Flower Trade Expo at the Oshwal convention centre in Nairobi. www.iftex.org 7 to 11. Italy III International Symposium on Postharvest Pathology, Using Sciences to Increase Food Availability. Venue: Villa Romanazzi, Bari, Italy. www.postharvestbari2015.it 7 to 8. United States SAF Retail Growth Solutions at Hartford, Conn. Conference hotel: Hartford Marriott Farmington.

This 36-hour mini-conference for retail florists covers several business topics such as design profitability, customer service and more, and features a Tech Showcase. www.safnow.org/events

8-10. United States International Floriculture Expo at McCormick Place in Chicago. www.floriexpo.com 8-11. Spain VIII International Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops in Lleida, Spain. jordi.marsal@irta.es www.ishs.org/symposium/438 9 June. Netherlands Greentech’s inaugural, by invitation only conference invites participants to respond to the question, “What’s next for green horticulture?

Expected to attend are 250 key stake holders from the horticultural sector. Building on the success of GreenTech exhibition, the mini conference will host a great line up of speakers. www.greentech.nl 9 to 11. United States The National Lawn & Garden Show is not the trade show you're used to. nlginfo@nlgshow.com P (888) 316-0226; (719) 488-0226 F (719) 488-8168 www.NLGShow.com 9 to 12. The Netherlands Flower Trials www.flowertrials.com 9 to 11. The Netherlands Marking its 40th edition this year, the TOC Europe Conference and Exhibition returns to the leading maritime hub of Rotterdam on 9-11 June 2015 to assess the fundamental changes now sweeping global container transport and logistics as a result of the shipping industry’s headlong charge towards mega vessels and alliances. www.toc-events.com 11 to 13. Germany World Cup for Florists at the Arena Berlin, Eichenstrasse 4 12435 Berlin. This year’s theme is ‘Freedom’. worldcup2015@fleurop.de www.worldcup-berlin2015.com 17 to 19. Brazil 22nd Hortitec show at the Holambra/SP convention centre. www.hortitec.com.br 17 to 21. The Netherlands ROOOZ, celebrating the rose’s past present and future. Miniature rose festival in the Historical Garden Aalsmeer.

23-24. Israel Fresh Agro Mashov, the 25th edition of Israel’s leading international fresh produce summit and exhibition. www.agro.mashovgroup.net

23 to 24. United Kingdom The National Plant Show at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, Warwickshire, CV82LZ, UK. T + 44 118 9303132 F + 44 118 9323453 enquiries@nationalplantshow.co.uk www.nationalplantshow.co.uk

22 to 26. United Kingdom RHS Flower Show Tatton Park. www.rhs.org.uk

24 and 25. Netherlands Expo TCO, the leading trade show for the avenue tree sector. www.treecentreopheusden.nl/expo

31 July- 2 August. Netherlands The Floating Flower Parade, a floral flotilla of over 60 boats sailing through Dutch waters and lavishly decorated with flowers, plants, fruits and vegetables from Holland’s most famous horticultural region Westland. www.varendcorso.nl

24 to 29. Colombia 6th Iberiada, international gathering of floral design schools at the Hotel Intercontinental in Cali, Colombia. www.alyrofloralevents.com 28 June to 1 July. Belgium 25th International Eucarpia Symposium at the premises of the ILVO institute for agricultural and fisheries research in Mell, near Ghent. www.eucarpiaornamentals2015.be 30 June to 5 July. United Kingdom RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. www.rhs.org.uk July 2015 11 to 14. United States Cultivate 2015 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio. Formerly known as OFA Short Course, Cultivate’15 will continue to offer premier educational and networking experiences, and more than 7 acres of trade show exhibits including technology, new products and services, and new plant varieties. hello@americanhort.org P (614) 487-1117 www.cultivate14.org 12-14. Brazil 24nd Enflor and 12th Garden Fair at Holambra/SP Convention Centre. www.enflor.com.br 19 to 23. Portugal GreenSys 2015, international symposium on new technologies and management for greenhouses in Evora, Portugal. greensys2015@uevora.pt www.greensys2015.uevora.pt 21 to 23. France The 46th Annual Fleuroselect Convention, hosted by Graines Voltz will take place from 21 to 23 2015 in Nantes, France. www.fleuroselect.com 21-23. United States SNA2015 Southern Nursery Association Show in Atlanta, Georgia www.sna.org

29 July- August 1. United States CalFlowers/Norcal Fun ‘N Sun Convention to book your room call 877 901 6632

August 2015 4 to 6. United States IGC East (Indepent Garden Centre) show at the Baltimore Convention Center. www.igcshow.com 9 to 14. Denmark International Garden Centre Association Congress. www.igccdenmark2015.org 13 to 15. Finland LEPAA, the three-day event set to be held in the Hämeenlinna area, ranks among one of the oldest horticultural trade shows in Europe. www.lepaa.fi 13 to 16. Russia SibFlowers 2015, 19th international exhibition of flowers, planting material, floristic accessories, garden tools and horticultural technology. Venue: Novosibirsk Expo Centre, Novosibirsk (Russia’s third largest city). www.sibflowersexpo.ru 20 to 22. United States Nursery/Landscape Expo at the Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas. expo@nurserylandscapeexpo.org P (512) 579-3857; (800) 880-0343 F (512) 280-3012 www.nurserylandscapeexpo.org 20 to 25. Australia 17th conference of the International Protea Association (IPA) in Perth, Australia. www.ipa-protea.org 24 to 27. United States International Trials Conference.

This cutting-edge conference focuses on the latest research and techniques for trialing annual, perennial and woody plants.

The conference is open to all industry professionals who have interest in plant trialing.

Registration is required and started on March 1, 2015. www.farwestshow.com/trials

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France In honour of the 30th anniversary edition of the Salon du Végétal (February 17-18), show organiser and trade association BHR treated over 13,500 visitors to a blockbuster line-up of content and special show features. The mood was festive and upbeat with some exhibitors booking excellent orders despite lower attendance than at previous shows.

Upbeat and festive mood th at 30 Salon du Végétal A

s the nation's largest horticultural show, Salon du Végétal 2015 brought together thousands of professionals in the ornamental horticulture field. ‘Submerged in Greenery’ was a fitting motto for this year’s trade show, where 500+s exhibitors showcased their plant range from seeds and young plants through to perennials and nursery stock produce to all those involved in the European plant trade. “The most important international business to business event in the French horticulture industry, the Salon du Végétal is the fundamental point of reference for the market. Every year, it grows in importance and it is THE meeting place for plant breeders, growers, landscape professionals, florists, garden centre retailers, supermarket managers, service providers, researchers, wholesalers, public works employees and property managers,” said show organiser Serge Tsvétoukhine.

Origins

by Ron van der Ploeg

The show was initially conceived as a simple plant show, called Anjou

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | May 2015

Vert, which took place in Angers’ city centre in 1981, being the forerunner of today’s international gathering place. Show founders, Eric Henry, at that time managing director of the horticultural trade association BHR, and tree grower André Briant saw the need for a more professional platform for growers and trade companies in the life style horticulture industry to showcase their products.

In 1985, the inaugural edition of the Salon du Végétal gave Anjou’s horticultural industry finally its long-awaited place in the big spotlight. Angers was a natural choice for the show, as it is the epicentre of the country’s ornamental horticulture. The growth and success of this event is a direct result of the strong support from the exhibitors and local businesses.

Thirty years on and the Salon is still a very plant-focused show with the

bulk of the display being taken up

by French plant growers.

However, over the years, the event has become truly international with strong contingents from Spanish, Belgian, Dutch, Italian and Danish growers. A large space is also given to breakthrough technologies and horticultural supplies from Urbinati and Mayer’s state-of-the-art potting and sowing lines to a range of premium quality substrates presented by big names such as Klasmann Deilmann, Compo, Jiffy, Pindstrup and Tourbières de France.

Lower attendance than previous years

Making its official debut this year at the Salon was the VégéDirect plant trolley fair, showcasing plants that are primarily grown in the country’s horticultural heartland, the Pays de la Loire (some 200km south west of Paris). Plant wholesal-

ers, garden centre retailers and landscapers welcomed the new initiative, while exhibiting nurseries already announced their presence for next year.

Végédirect participants and other exhibitors were writing excellent orders despite lower attendance than at previous editions of the Salon du Végétal. This year’s fair hosted 522 exhibitors (of which 29% were from abroad) and 13,500 visitors.

The attendance figures were slightly lower than in 2014 when the Salon registered 545 exhibitors and 15,057 visitors.

Despite the small drop, Serge Tsvétoukhine, the exhibition manager, highlighted the stand out content and the quality of attendees. “Many exhibitors took advantage of the event to show their new ideas for the upcoming 2015 season. This year once again we saw conviviality on the stands and in the aisles. For the 2016 Salon du Végétal, however, a team made of experts will join forces to strengthen the image and pulling power of the trade show,” said Serge Tsvétoukhine. He added, “This work, based on two questionnaires, took take place at the beginning of March with both visitors and exhibitors feedback being considered.”

Next year’s Salon du Végétal will take place from February 16 to 18, 2016. |||

After its successful debut in 2014, the Pôle Distribution was back in Angers for a second year.

Pôle Distribution This year, there were again six feature areas planned for the show floor. They offered exhibitors the opportunity to raise the profile of their business.

After its successful debut in 2014, the Pôle Distribution was back in Angers for a second year. This pavilion showcased a number of companies selling and servicing the retail industry.

If you want to find out how to create a bigger impact at the point of decision -the store shelf- this pavilion was the place to do it. The presentations tried to answer the key question: With seemingly endless choice, how can a company- whether upscale supermarket or discounter- ensure their product stands out on the shelves? |||

Pôle Paysage and Prospectives Végétales feature areas The Pôle Paysage offered a platform for the exchange of ideas and research findings regarding the urban landscaping industry, while the Prospectives Végétales area invited visitors to look into the future with a series of mini conferences, dedicated to new trends. Here, members of the Hortea think tank explained that the sector is not only facing an economic or fashion set back, but an outright mutation in how people live, communicate, buy and consume. |||

The Prospectives Végétales area invited visitors to look into the future with a series of mini conferences.

Young Plants pavilion Young plant producers wanting to meet new customers or showcase novelties, gathered in the Ilot Jeunes Plants (the Young Plants Island). This showcase provided attendees with a whole range of plug plants to tempt the bedding plant and perennial growers. |||

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France Espace Inspiration Bouquets d’Aujourd’hui

At the Espace Inspiration a student is promoting her Apart’Thé concept. Pictured right is exhibition manager Serge Tsvétoukhine.

Espace Inspiration Bridging the intergenerational divide with the help of ornamental plants was the Espace Inspiration where for the 13th consecutive year, students from the design school Les Herbiers provided examples of how to accurately blend plants and flowers with contemporary design.

This year, the students presented plants that can bind generations together.

Student Mathilde Moreau launched her marketing concept Bi Bouille, including a set of four finger leg plants puppets. Parents and children or grandparents and grandchildren, for example, can slip their fingers into the holes and let the plant puppet with finger legs do the rest. The Bi Bouille puppets give bedtime storytelling a new dimension, incorporating humour and imagination in ways that engage young listeners. The Bi Bouille kit includes a set of scenery cards and story-telling key words for inspiration. A jury of experts awarded Bi Bouille the first prize, while Apart’Thé, combining plant stand and bistro table won the Visitors Vote. Using string and a peat moss ball, Yume No Kai transformed mini trees into a suspended living work of art that is a variation of the Japanese botanical style, kodedma. It won the award for the most audacious concept. |||

Award-winning Bi-Bouille finger leg plant puppets.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | May 2015

The Bouquets d’Aujourd’hui exhibition island featured art competitions that addressed the theme ‘Happy Birthday’, honouring the Salon’s 30 year legacy of promoting innovation across the French horticultural community. Catherine Paulay, who started working at the St Etienne de Montluc- based (near Nantes) La Fleur en Plus flower shop two years ago, took the top prize in the Salon’s floral competition. ||| The Bouquets d’Aujourd’hui exhibition island featured art competitions that addressed the theme ‘Happy Birthday’.

Innovert True to its 30 year-tradition, new plants were a vital part of France’s premier horticultural trade show. They were given a place of honour in the Innovert Gallery, an innovation showcase linked to the Innovert Awards, widely regarded as the Césars of the French horticultural industry.

The Innovert Awards highlighted the very latest plants on the scene along with innovative gardening tools and supplies. In December 2014, growers, landscape architects, marketing experts and members of the horticultural media gathered as a specialist jury to deliberate upon more than 70 entries and vote in three categories: New Plant Varieties, Best Commercial Plant Introduction and Green Tools, Services & Supplies. Eventually they announced 55 new products ahead of the official opening.

The judges for 2015 were Jacques Moreau (horticultural photographer), Jean Chapron (Les Jardins d’Artois), Louis-Marie Rivière (Innovert co-chairman), Catherine Delvaux (Détente Jardin), Christelle Bore (Horticash), Alain Delavie (Rustica SA and Innovert co-chairman), Sébastien Guillet (Agrocampus Ouest), Paul Moreau (Ecce Terra), Maurice Chaumond and Damien Vinet (garden centre chain Nalod’s), Aurélien Onillon (Pépinières Lepage), Bruno Dessevre (Les Fleurs du Layon) and Jocelyn Foucher (BHR representative). |||

A completely new type of Campsis At this year’s awards ceremony, climbing plant expert Arnaud Travers, owner of Pépinières Travers won the first prize in the category New Plant Varieties with the Campsis x tagliabuena Orangeade® ‘Tracamp.’

Campsis or trumpet vine/trumpet creeper as it is commonly known, is a strong growing, deciduous climber (up to 6m high), with divided green leaves.

There are 2 species of Campsis. Campsis radicans is the hardiest, self-clinging species introduced from North America, while the Asian Campsis grandiflora stands out for its large blooms, although it lacks adhesive roots and is less hardy. Stemming from both species is the garden hybrid named Campsis x tagliabuana. The species name tagliabuana recalls the 19th century Italian nurserymen, Alberto and Carlo Tagliabue at whose nursery it was first discovered.

The double award-winning (at the 2014 Plantarium show it scooped the Bronze Medal) Campsis x tagliabuena Orangeade ® ‘Tracamp’ is a mutation of probably the best-know selection of Campsis x tagliabuena: ‘Madame van Galen’, combining the large flower size of Campsis grandiflora and the hardiness of Campsis radicans.

Orangeade represents a completely new type of Campsis with foliage that is vaguely reminiscent of an ash leaf. Its most spectacular feature, however, are the trusses of up to12 trumpet-shaped flowers that somewhat resemble the pattern of a leopard skin. Placed against a warm sunny wall, protected from cold winds, it will easily reach 3 to 5m in height. An abundance of flowers will appear from July to September. Orangeade was bred

by Pépinières Travers (which has been granted Plant Breeders’ Rights) and submitted by Sapho for sales on the international marketplace.

Established in 1870 in Saint Cyr en Val 20km south of the city centre of Orléans, Pépinières Travers is a fifth generation plant nursery, which receives 50% of its overall revenue from clematis sales, while miscellaneous climbing plants and soft fruit plants account for the other half of their sales volume. From the 12ha growing area, 4.5 ha is under glass.

The company employs 40 people and grows over 350 clematis varieties. The nursery propagates in excess of 1.3 million plants per year. |||

Bonaparte Begonias Also good for an Innovert Gold Medal was Begonia x boliviensis Bonaparte F1 ‘Yellow’, the first yellow Begonia boliviensis from seed. This Begonia was submitted by Graines Voltz (the company’s press officer Clémentine Bergue was unable to provide the breeder’s name so it is most probably that the Bonaparte breeding work was outsourced) and compares to Benary’s seed-raised Begonia boliviensis Santa Cruz and Beekenkamp’s single-flowered vegetative Bovilia series in terms of growth habit, flower size, self-branching capacity and earliness.

Being seed-raised, it is both cheaper and easier for growers to produce as well as more affordable for consumers to buy.

Bonaparte Yellow keeps a compact, upright habit during its early stages of growth, but as it ages, plants begin to cascade over patio pots and baskets.

Stems trail to 30-40cm in length and are continuously smothered with softyellow, bell-shaped flowers.

It is an easy to grow Begonia that is perfect in containers, hanging baskets and as a landscaping plant. In France, it is exclusively available in five tropical colours (orange, red, pink, white and now also yellow) at Graines Voltz, as single seed pellets or as young plants in 84 and 180-cell trays. |||

E-gardening coach Variety-specific info and care tips for newly bought garden plant are sent by email or text message, in combination with instructional videos on Youtube. This is in short the service provided by the E-coach Jardin by Horticulteurs Pépinièristes de France. The latter is an ornamental plant grower group with 250 members across the country. Founded in 2001, the association has its own HPF quality label. Its E-garden coach scooped the highest Innovert accolade in the Green Tools, Services & Supplies category. |||

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France Plug-in plants Commercial plug production of bedding plants, vegetable transplants, pot crops, cut flowers, tissue-culture material and trees is an integral part of the ornamental horticulture and gardening industry worldwide. In Europe alone almost all greenhouse vegetables and cut flowers are plug propagated.

For the first time, ready to germinate plant plugs will not only be accessible to professional plant propagators, but also to home gardeners.

The ‘Les Prêts à Germer’ plugs come in a plastic box that is small enough to fit on a windowsill. It has a transparent top to help keep the soil moist until the seeds sprout. After that, the clear plastic lid should be removed and can be put under the tray to serve as a water reservoir. Three kits are available: the Vegetables Kit is perfect for growing tomatoes, eggplants, spinach and pumpkins, while the Herb & Leafy Greens kit offers the perfect start for basil, parsley, rocket, Thymus, lavender and Coriander. The Flower Kit so far includes sunflowers, Ipomea (morning glory) and Indian cress (Tropaeolum majus).

Aside from the advantage that the roots can be kept relatively undisturbed when transplanting the plug plants into their final growing position, the small packaging makes the kits particularly attractive for hobby gardeners who are often struggling with space restrictions. |||

The time is ripe (and cooked) for sweet potatoes

Modeling the company’s Sweet Potatoe Family is Graines Voltz press officer Clémentine Bergue.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | May 2015

In Europe, consumers have been expressing an increasing preference for locally and sustainably/home grown produce. Responding to this trend, Graines Voltz has developed a line of Ipomoea batatas, or sweet potatoes as they are commonly known.

The product launch couldn’t have come at a better time now that the market has seen significant growth over the last few years. Sales predictions are looking equally positive.

The market potential is huge. Fresh produce vendors state that while 60 per cent of South and Middle American consumers regularly consume sweet spuds, only 3 per cent, excluding the UK, of Europeans make the purchase.

Meanwhile, Graines Voltz press officer Clémentine Bergue ensures that the Innovert Bronze Medal winning sweet potatoes are now ready to conquer the European market. Not only are they super healthy, they are also incredibly tasty and versatile. They can be boiled, roasted, cut into chips or steamed until tender, then mashed, puréed or simply served as they are.

The only disadvantage is that they are not dressed to impress with their pale to dark jackets. Perfectly aware that sweet potatoes are dull-looking on the outside, Graines Voltz gave the product a playful identity. The fun characters Madame Bonita, Madame Evangeline, Monsieur Murasaki and Monsieur Orleans represent different types with each their own skin and flesh colour and are sold under the cheerful Sweet Potatoe Family brand.

Ipomoea batatas are traditionally grown in warmer climates but Graines Voltz stresses that they are using hardier cultivars from tissue culture meaning that sweet potatoes can now also be grown in Northern Europe.

For the record, despite its name, the sweet potato is not a potato at all. The genus represents a root vegetable that belongs to the Ipomoea family; the same genus as the flowering climber ‘Morning Glory’. |||

The true alternative to traditional box hedging

Oprins sales manager Guy Henderieckx

With the plight of Buxus sempervirens making headlines, Belgium-based Oprins Nursery has come up with what is said to be the true alternative to traditional box hedging. Its PBR-protected Ilex crenata ‘Dark Green’ and ‘Blondie’ are almost identical to traditional Box, but they are far less susceptible to mould infections by Cylindrocladium buxicola and Volutella buxi, that are creating havoc in many (heritage) gardens.

For Oprins there was no better place to present their plants than at the Salon du Végétal, as Angers is located in the heart of the Loire Valley, which is packed with castles and historic gardens.

Oprins sales manager Guy Henderieckx said that they have several added benefits in that they are not prone to leaf scorch when pruned.

What’s more, they appear to be resistant to the box tree caterpillar (Cydamila perspectalis) that is native to East Asia. This caterpillar became established in Europe in 2007 and has now spreading to most of continental Europe and the UK/Ireland.

This voracious little caterpillars feed within webbing and can easily eat away all box foliage.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society, “ the biology of the box tree caterpillar is not yet fully known, as it is a recent discovery here, but it may have two or three generations per year. It overwinters as small caterpil-

lars, hidden between box leaves that have been spun together with silk in autumn, and completes its development in spring. The adult moth is capable of flight, but it is not known how far it can travel.”

Now that the moth next to the aforementioned mould is likely to become a serious problem across Europe, times for Oprins are busy, replacing box wood hedges with their Ilex Dark Green in the backyard of Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. Henderieckx added that currently the company’s Ilex are trialled at the 17th century chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte in France where boxwood hedges are both prone to moths and boxwood caterpillars.

When asked about cheaper, seed raised and royalty free Ilex, Henderieckx said nothing rivals the ‘Dark Green’ and ‘Blondie’.

Hybrid cultivars, propagated from cuttings, the plants will always display the same habit and growth rate (30cm per year). Somewhat faster in growth (40cm per year) is Ilex crenata ‘Blondie’ whose leaves are golden yellow when young, changing to yellow green when older.

Both Ilex cultivars are extremely versatile.

They can be grown into an evergreen hedge up to 3.5 metres tall or can be kept trimmed short for the traditional potager edging effect.

Alternatively it is perfect for topiary and can be trained and pruned into all sorts of shapes. |||

You don’t have to be Dutch-speaking to order tulips ‘You don’t have to be Dutch-speaking to order fresh tulips’ is a fitting motto for the Allonnesbased bulb forcing farm in the heart of France, producing over 20 million blooms per year.

Placed in plastic crates and in a greenhouse environment, tulip bulbs are forced on water.

Second-generation grower Jean-Philippe Bigot grows up to 300,000 tulips per day including 30 varieties in all shapes and colours.

Among these are the yellow top sellers ‘Strong Gold’and the ‘White Marvel’. The tulip bouquets are delivered straight to the depots of supermarket chains and flower shops across France.

Founded by Jean Bigot, the company is still located where it all began 57 years ago. However, some things have dramatically changed as in 2002 they moved their entire cut rose production to Kenya, where the company is now growing intermediate roses on 53ha of greenhouses situated in the Great Rift Valley.

The company is taking great pride in hav-

ing one of the shortest supply chains in cut flowers, which guarantees premium product quality and long shelf life.

Roses arrive by plane in Amsterdam’s freight forward company Flower Wings Cargo BV to be trucked to Bigot’s processing hall in Allonnes (Sarthe department).

Here, standing at a conveyor belt, a group of workers keep the stream of Fairtrade, MPS and Max Havelaar certified roses from Kenya going. Major supermarket chains increasingly require their produce suppliers to provide evidence of commitment to free trade, fair labour practices, equitable compensation and environmental sustainability. According to Bigot commercial director Aurélien Cheri, assurances, such as the Fairtrade label, provide the company’s customers increased confidence that Bigot roses are not only of the finest quality but also meet standards for social and environmental sustainability. The Fairtrade label also clearly illustrates that Bigot shows

good stewardship of natural resources and the environment.

Roses ordered online before 16:00 am are delivered the next day between 8:00 am and 13:00 pm.

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Russia The Russian cut flower market is on the verge of a serious crisis with the collapse of many importers and local producers, due to the current economic crisis in the country and the devaluation of the rouble.

Russian flower market on verge of serious crisis A

ccording to predictions of analysts of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, cut flower sales in Russia may decline by 15% to 20% this year, which may result in the bankruptcies of some local producers and importers.

So far, some of Russia’s leading flower importers have already been forced to file for bankruptcy, as, due to the devaluation of the Russian rouble by almost half (compared to the same period of 2014) their costs have hence almost doubled.

No bank loans

by Eugene Gerden

In order to compensate the increased costs, some of the importers have already increased prices by 15% to 20%, however,

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | May 2015

many of them continue to incur significant losses.

The current situation is aggravated by the fact that most of the Russian banks currently refuse to provide loans even to Russia’s leading flower importers, amid fears of their possible collapse.

At the same time, those banks, that continue to provide loans to domestic flower businesses, have decided to significantly increase their interest rates, which makes further borrowing unprofitable for at least 70% of importers.

fluctuations) has also severely hit the Russian flower business, which, due to high cost of loans, currently doesn’t have enough funds to pay for imports.

According to some leading Russian companies, specialising in flower imports, none of the importers have been cash constrained like this since the mid-1990s, which is a catastrophic situation for them.

This has resulted in the bankruptcy of some importers.

Catastrophic situation

Due to a lack of bank loans, the majority of local flower importers are considering implementing other financial schemes, in order to continue purchasing from abroad. Among the possible

In addition, the decision of some of the EU-based flower exporters to introduce a 100% advance payment for their Russian customers (amid the fears of further currency

Bank guarantees

Happy Gardening

by Anthony Tesselaar

schemes is the receiver of the bank letter of credit or bank guarantees.

However, since the beginning of this year, prices for bank letters of credit have increased several times. If before the crisis the cost of the credit varied between 0.5%-1% per supply, it now starts at 1.5% for the best and most reliable companies and 5% for all others.

At the same time any guarantees and letters of Russia’s three largest banks VEB, Sberbank and VTB are currently not accepted, due to imposition of sanctions on them.

International Women’s Day

At present, the Russian flower market is estimated at US$2 billion, however, due to the current crisis in Russia it is expected to have declined by 15%-20% by the end of the current year.

The biggest hopes leading Russian distributors and importers were put on the 8th of March, the International Women’s Day, when sales of flowers in Russia traditionally increased several fold.

This time, however, according to the analysts of the Russian Ministry of Trade, sales volumes were significantly lower than previous years, due to a significant increase in prices.

State Duma doesn’t see any tragedy

In the meantime, the Russian Parliament (State Duma) does not see any tragedy in the current situation in the Russian flowers market. According to Nikolai Arefiev, Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee on Economic, Innovation Policy and Business Development, Russia should reduce imports of flowers, which is expected to be achieved through the freeze of their prices by domestic producers.

Nikolai Arefiev commented, “If Russian producers decide to freeze their prices, further imports of flowers and floral products will become more expensive, which may result in the decline of the share of imports in the market from the current 90%.”

At the same time, according to Anatoly Fitisov, the director of the Ulyanovsk State Farm of Ornamental Horticulture, the current situation in the market may provide domestic producers with the possibility to increase their market share and withdraw importers from the market.

However, according to Fitisov, full import substitution will take several years. |||

45 years is a long time You’re probably wondering why our wedding photo graces this column.

Two reasons. One: Sheryl and I are celebrating 45 years of marriage, which is pretty special because you can’t imagine in the beginning that you’ll ever hear yourself saying those words. But the second reason is what this column really is about . How we managed to happily, and productively, go through all those years, and how it’s not a bad approach for lifelong love, but also for business.

Forty five years might seem like forever.

Well it is, and at the same time it isn’t.

When Sheryl and I got married, I thought of it like putting a stake in the sand. It’s something I always try to do in business and it’s worked just as well at home. The stake marks where you want to end up and it stops you going round in circles.

In a marriage it marks who you will be travelling through life with - she is my stake and I am hers. Over the years, we’ve always been there as the other person’s constant point of reference and sounding board. We’ve often not agreed, but we’ve offered each other our perspective and together plotted our daily path. And I really believe that doing things unilaterally, your own way, is a mistake. I could give you many, many examples, big and small, of why it’s been better for both of us to get the other person’s opinion before travelling down the same path together.

In business I find it’s very similar. So I work in consultation with my colleagues, tackle things a bit at a time. I certainly work to a plan (I use that stake-in-the-sand in business too) but I don’t try to keep the entire planned journey in the here-and-now because it’s too hard. It’s disheartening and pointless. (If I’d been thinking on our wedding day of everything I’d probably experience in our life together, my head would have exploded.)

As you go forward, an occasional check to be sure you’re on track with your business-plan is certainly a good idea, but each day I focus my view and get on with dealing with manageable chunks at work. It’s a bit like facing a steep hill climb. I wear a cap and pull it down so I can only see a few metres ahead, and before I know it, I’ve arrived at the top.

Of course, if you’re lucky enough to be where you want to be and enjoy every day – in marriage or business – then the time flies. Working together creates great milestones… for everybody.

Anthony Tesselaar hails from Anthony Tesselaar International, an international project management company dealing in plants, horticultural research & development and strategic water management. www.tesselaar.com / ATesselaar@tesselaar.com

May 2015 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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World News Vatican City Pope Francis has own Helleborus The Regional Institute for Floriculture (IRF) director Dott.ssa Margherita Beruto and IRF chairman Germano Gadina met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday March 25. They brought with them a new Helleborus which has been give the name ‘Francesco’.

Bred by the IRF, Helleborus ‘Francesco’ represents a new type of Helleborus featuring lush green foliage that nicely contrasts with pure white flowers that turn light green as they age. Resistant to pests and diseases and suited for growing in the more temperate climates, Helleborus ‘Francesco’ blooms from December until April and adds colour to the winter garden. IRF director Ms Beruto, however, stresses that a bouquet of cut Helleborus can also brighten up any room. In an attempt to boost the flower business in the Liguria region, the IRF launched a series of in vitro propagated

interspecific hybrids that are suited to the mild winters and warm, dry summers in Liguria.

‘Nikita’, ‘Domingo’, ‘Guapa’ and cream of the Helleborus crop, ‘Francesco’, are four hybrids that come in different shades of white and crop stages. Currently they are being trialled at 10 flower farms, using different cultivation techniques in the open field, in greenhouses or shade halls.

Planted in 2014, the 5,000 IRF Helleborus produced their first, modest cut flower crop this winter.

Meanwhile, the market for future cut flower production is growing at an encouraging rate. |||

Khosh amadid (welcome) Iran!

FCI proudly welcomes its 85th partner The international B2B magazine for floriculture worldwide, FloraCulture International (FCI) is pleased to announce its business partnership with the Iranian Society for Ornamental Plants (ISOP).

Founded in 2013, ISOP is the nation’s new peak industry body representing Iran's impressive flower industry. Their mission is to build better business relationships for members and to represent the flower industry before government and business leaders.

ISOP members and relations will receive the monthly online format of FloraCulture International free of charge as courtesy to their membership.

Iran has deep roots in the ornamental horticulture industry, which is a vital element of the wider Iranian agricultural sector.

National consumption grows, while the exports of flowers and plants dto neighbouring countries such as Russia continue to increase.

FloraCulture International’s publisher Jaap Kras is delighted to have ISOP on board. “We have been searching ways to strengthen our relationship with Iran for a very long time. The ornamental industry, especially in Northern Iran has a long tradition of ornamental horticulture production and few of our readers are aware of the size and importance of Iran’s flower industry, nor do they know that the nation is a treasure

trove of rare wild tulip and other important bulb crops. Accurate and vivid reporting of Iran’s life style horticulture industry will help us to strengthen our international network, while it will hopefully boost business with Iran.

Also, it is our wish that FCI be one of the many ways to open a new page in the country’s global business ties. Iran is actually far more progressive than many people realise. Iranians are intelligent, hardworking people and mostly well-educated. FCI is glad to welcome ISOP within its network and is looking forward to a further successful cooperation.”

The agreement between FCI and ISOP brings the total of FCI partners to 85. Among the FCI partners rank 34 trade associations at state level and 47 at local level. |||

May 2015 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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42

Italy The inaugural edition of the Myplant & Garden trade show was held from February 25-27th at the Rho-Pero exhibition centre, only 15km away from Milan city centre.

Inaugural Myplant & Garden doesn’t disappoint O

by Aldo Colombo

verall impressions of both exhibitors and visitors were quite positive. The newly- built fairground is host to the World Expo Milan from May 1st to October 31st and is really impressive, easily reachable by car, train and metro and is perfectly connected to Malpensa airport.

The first edition of Myplant & Garden occupied two halls with hall 6 devoted to plants and technology, while hall 10 offered floristry products and floral demonstrations.

As a result, footfall in the plant and technology section during the first two days was the biggest, while the floristry area looked almost empty.

Quality visitors

Exhibitors were highly satisfied with the quality of the visitors the show attracted: almost all the ‘important’ decision makers from across Italy and the wider world were there.

When speaking to the show organisers, they admitted that there was some room for improvement and that next year they will increasingly focus on attracting some missing parties.

Almost completely absent, for example, were the growers from the country’s epicentre of nursery stock production: Pistoia. Fields to work on also include the offer of young plants and certain types of equipment.

www.FloraCultureInternational.com | May 2015

Many Pistoia growers and young plant supplier were there as visitors, and considering their positive attitude, they are now seriously considering participating in next year’s edition.

Moreover, it is absolutely necessary to attract more international exhibitors and visitors and to do so that it might be a good idea to increase the show’s advertising budget.

A first victory

Some visitors also asked for a clearer layout, catering for the many different categories in the exhibition.

Meanwhile, space at the Rho/Pero convention centre is abundant and flexible, allowing easy expansion of the show for the years to come.

Two more trade shows were held in conjunction with MyPlant &Garden. Even so, many halls were still empty.

Overall, it was generally accepted that Myplant obtained its first victory in the ‘battle of Italian flower trade shows’. The final outcome will be clear by the end of September, when the two other competing cities, Padova, with its traditional Flormart show and Rimini with its brand new Flora Trade exhibition, will unveil their visitor and exhibitor numbers .

It is clear that, given the present economic situation in Italy and sluggish flower and plant sales practically everywhere, there is no room for three trade shows in this country.

by Arturo Croci

Buongiorno!

Valentine and Ciccolella: an unhappy marriage At Myplant, questions were raised regarding the ideal period for a flower trade show in Italy.

Not everyone seemed to be happy with the end of February, with IPM Essen taking place only one month before and the Salon du Végétal at nearly the same dates.

Everything also depends on the product: while for some growers spring sales are important , others focus on the new selling season right after summer.

Young entrepreneurs

Italy’s ornamental horticulture and gardening industry has praised Myplant for having started from scratch, initated by a group of discontented Flormart exhibitors.

The influence of the committee of ‘founders’ consisting mostly of young entrepreneurs, who already have a proven track record of visiting exhibitions and trade shows all over the world, was evident.

With the new Myplant show they wanted to give a ‘wake-up call’ to a sleeping old community’ . If they are right, the next edition, in February 2016, will probably be a turning point for the trade in Italy. |||

Valentine’s Day is associated with love and romance; for some, it is a recurring source of bad luck and misery. Take the Italian floral wholesale company Ciccolella. Ciccolella Holding International BV was filing for bankruptcy between February 11 and 19 2013 as it struggled under an estimated mammoth debt burden of €30 million. Not only Ciccolella Holding International BV ceased operations. Swept away in a flood of Ciccolella debts were also 27 (!) floral wholesale and service companies.

Ciccolella’s parent company is listed at the stock exchange in Milan and immediately after the announcement that the company’s international division in Holland had collapsed, the share price of Ciccolella in Italy rose quickly as investors thought that the source of the debts had been eliminated and the revenues (€56 million in 2013) under the contract with Edison Energy were safe.

On 13 February 2015, however, the Ciccolella Group issued the following press release, "Today, February 10th 2015, the Court of Trani issued a bankruptcy order against our company. Appointed to manage the bankruptcy are trustees Gennaro Acclavio from Barletta and Vincenzo Civita from Andria.”

Applying to file Ciccolella as bankrupt was Turin-based financial consultant Studio Segre (the company that prepared Ciccolella to go public), stating that Ciccolella is owing them €700.000, a debt that is contested by Ciccolella.

Only four days later, the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (commonly known as CONSOB), the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission responsible for regulating the Italian securities market, suspended trading in Ciccolella securities for an indefinite period.

The situation could get somewhat confusing if it is true that Ciccolella SpA, the listed, company, actually has no debt and has capitalized on the Stock Exchange Market for over €40 million; the exposure of the unlisted Ciccolella Group Srl, would be €225 million and the 100ha of greenhouses and land in the towns of Molfetta, Terlizzi, Melfi and Candela serve as guarantee for banks and other lending institutions.

All the complex details of the impressive Ciccolella case aside, it is now up the Public Prosecutor, Antonio Savasta to find out the exact cause of the business collapse and if there is criminal liability. It has been said that the Prosecutor is also trying to get a deeper insight into the funding of photovoltaic systems on greenhouses, while the tax revenue agency Agenzia delle Entrate informed the Prosecutor about an alleged tax evasion. Things became even more incomprehensible when it turned out that the Italian government provided funds to build photovoltaic systems on greenhouses that seem to be formally owned by a company registered in Delaware, USA. On March 13, 2015 Ciccolella S.p.A. filed with the Court of Appeal of Bari the complaint against the judgment of the Court of Trani declaring the bankruptcy. To be continued.

Giampietro D’Adda, President of the Myplant Committee, Marco Orlandelli, Valeria Randazzo, Lucio Pisapia (who was celebrating the 50 th anniversary of his firm) and Giulia Gandini. Valeria and Giulia are partners of VG Crea, the organisation behind the event.

Arturo Croci is the founder of Italy's leading horticultural business magazine Flortecnica and a walking encyclopedia of Italian horticulture. arturo@floracultureinternational.com

May 2015 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com

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Floraculture International encourages the pursuit of joint activities in areas of mutual interest with national and international societies, companies and organizations.

Agreements have been reached between Floraculture International and leading growers and trade associations in 32 countries. This unique partnership includes a complimentary copy for each member of the registered associations. Floraculture International is proud to announce the cooperation with the following associations.

For more FCI partners see page 4.

Partners of FloraCulture International

Classifieds HELP WANTED FLORASEARCH, INC. In our third decade of performing confidential key employee searches for the horticulture industry and allied trades worldwide.

Retained basis only. Candidate contact welcome, confidential, and always free.

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Contact for more information: mago@lagoon.nc

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Armada Youngplants.................................45............... www.armadayoungplants.nl Asocolflores (Proflora 2015).....................1...............................www.proflora.org.co Brandkamp GmbH......................................40...............................www.brandkamp.de Corn Bak B.V................................................40................................www.bromelia.com Danziger ‘Dan’Flower Farm.....................20................................. www.danziger.co.il Deliflor............................................................46........................................www.defliflor.nl Flora Co., Ltd..................................................2...................................www.HB-101.co.jp Flora Trade Rimini 2015.............................30....................................www.floratrade.it Florasearch Inc...........................................45...........................www.florasearch.com Floricultura B.V.............................................3............................www.floracultura.com Flowers & Cents..........................................40.................. www.flowersandcents.org FlowersExpo ................................................46............................www.flowers-expo.ru M. van Veen.................................................40.........................www.mvanveenbv.com Messe Essen (IPM Worldwide).............48.................................www.ipm-essen.de world-trade-fair/ Moerheim New Plants..............................16..............................www.moerheim.com PMA (Produce Marketing Ass.).............47.........................................www.pma.com Poppelmann GmbH.....................................6........................www.poeppelmann.com Real IPM........................................................28...................................www.realipm.com Sion..................................................................6..............................................www.sion.eu Takii & Co. Ltd.,............................................18........................................ www.takii.co.jp Thierry Richez..............................................45 Young Flowers.............................................18.......................... www.youngflowers.dk This index is provided as a service to our readers. The publisher does not assume responsibility for errors or omissions.

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46Nov .2015 BENGAL URU

35Mar c h.2016 NEW DEL HI