• Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010 Categories: News, Requirements

    FloraHolland is budgeting a small decrease in turnover of 1.5 per cent for 2010. “By being thrifty we can ensure that the auction does not become more expensive while modernizing sufficiently at the same time,” said Financial Director Erik Leeuwaarden at the recently held general meeting. The rates for members will remain largely the same in 2010.The basic commission will be 1.4 per cent.

    Sales via FloraHolland Connect will be 0.1 per cent cheaper for members. The clock commission will stay at 2.3 per cent. The auction is working towards further harmonization of the various rates. Lot charge will be decreased at Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg. Read more »

  • Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Categories: Guatemala, News, ProVerde projects

    A two-day training programme for flower growers in Guatemala on ‘External and internal customer orientation’ is scheduled for early February. The training programme is an initiative of CBI and Agexport and will be carried out by Milco Rikken of ProVerde and Maarten van Schie of OTV Wageningen.

    The objective of the training is to improve the knowledge and skills of the participants in understanding customer requirements as well as the European market channels and requirements. After the training, participants are informed about present market conditions and developments. They are able to translate and implement market information, client expectations and feedback to the different levels in the farms. This is done in relation to the export of flowers, foliage and plant (materials) to the EU. Read more »

  • Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Categories: Market research, ProVerde projects

    A recently published CBI market survey for summer flowers, which was compiled by ProVerde, shows that turnover in summer flowers has increased steadily over the past couple of years. An important contributing factors has been steadily increasing supermarket sales and the resulting increased demand for bouquet fillers. The recent global economic crisis, however, has also affected the European summer flower trade. Read more »

  • Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Categories: Market research, ProVerde projects

    This week, CBI published its latest market survey for tropical flowers, which was compiled by ProVerde.  The survey shows that a number of developing countries holds a strong position in supplying tropical flowers to the European market. The European market is characterised by very strict quality requirements and a high level of interest in innovation and new species; experience has shown that new products can acquire a rapidly growing market share, following initial introduction to the trade. Read more »

  • Date: Monday, January 18, 2010 Categories: News

    The Partnership on Market Access was initiated at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002. The WSSD concluded that agricultural trade is an important prerequisite for sustainable development and poverty alleviation. At the same time, quality requirements in agricultural trade, whether from governments or from companies or civil society organizations tend to become stricter. The Netherlands initiated a partnership on market access, which focuses on capacity building to allow less developed countries meet these stricter quality requirements. Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya took up this partnership challenge. Read more »

  • Date: Thursday, January 14, 2010 Categories: News

    Today (14 January 2010), The Mavuno Group (Kenya) and flower auction FloraHolland announced that all the activities of Tele Flower Auction (TFA) of the Mavuno Group will be integrated into FloraHolland. This means that current TFA suppliers will broaden their sales network and strengthen their trade opportunities by connecting to the virtual clock systems of FloraHolland. For FloraHolland this is an unique opportunity to bind international producers and improve the assortment and buying power for buyers. Integration will be accomplished this year. Read more »

  • Date: Friday, January 1, 2010 Categories: Cut Flowers, Egypt, Kenya, ProVerde projects, South Africa, Training, Uganda

    CBI’s Export Development Programmes (EDP) for cut flowers are designed to help entrepreneurs in selected African countries to adapt to EU market requirements in order to create conditions for market entry or market consolidation. ProVerde has been involved in many parts of the programme.

    Each country programme combined different elements: technical assistance, training in export marketing and management and market entry assistance. In Egypt for example, the programme mainly focused on logistic cooperation and certification. In Kenya, CBI was of the opinion that there is enough knowledge available in the country itself to help to companies to develop their product quality, so instead the programme focused on developing export marketing (including a market tour to the Netherlands), HRM skills of the middle managers, and cooperation between the farms. In Uganda, improvement of product quality and farm management were the main issues, next to marketing training. Read more »

  • Date: Friday, January 1, 2010 Categories: Cut Flowers, Egypt, Kenya, Marketing, ProVerde projects, Training, Uganda

    During a series of market tours organised by ProVerde for CBI, companies were invited for a one-week market tour in The Netherlands.

    When having the desire to export to the EU, it is essential for exporters to understand how the market operates. Who is buying flowers and what does that buyer expect from it? What happens with price and market position if this expectation is not fulfilled?

    The market tours generally consisted of a combination of company visits and supporting workshop trainings. Read more »