It is a well-developed and highly competitive market which approaches saturation in some countries. As a result, traders are continuously seeking new, special and different products to distinguish themselves. Consumers want to be surprised: see something new and unexpected in the shops. It is obvious that this huge market offers varying opportunities for companies in developing countries as potential suppliers of natural products with ornamental features.

In view of this opportunity, ProVerde is looking for ways to match demand and potential suppliers. ProVerde is an internationally oriented company providing trade facilitation and trade mediation services to primarily companies in developing countries. We are based in The Netherlands, the centre of international floricultural trade, and specialised in marketing cut flowers & plants, florist items, and biodiversity products.

A number of our contacts, who are active as wholesalers in the European floricultural and related sectors, have expressed interest in new suppliers from Asia, Latin America and Africa. Because of my background as a market specialist in these sectors, I am able to identify interesting products for them.

The products that we are particularly interested in are natural products that can be used for ornamental purposes (foliage, rattan, dried fruits, bamboo, ornamental seeds, etc.). These products will be used for flower arrangements, bouquets or as stand-alone items. Please observe that these do not include arts and handicrafts.

Do you also think you have interesting products with potential in the floricultural market? Or do you know organisations or companies that have? Then, I would like to invite you to send us an overview of the assortment, preferably with a catalogue, brochure or (digital) photos of the products.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Milco Rikken
ProVerde – Trade Strategies

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Temperate and sub-tropical species such as citrus fruit, grapes and pears are imported as well, but mainly in out of the European growing season. Countries in the southern hemisphere are able to supply when the countries in the northern hemisphere can not. This is also known as counter-season supply. For fruit products that can be stored, such as apples, the counter season is less evident. With the continual improvements in storage life and storage conditions of fruit products, the off-season is shortened.

EU countries have a high degree of internal supply for vegetable products. Only occasionally, for instance in cases of poor harvests or during the off-season period, products are imported from outside the EU. Some vegetables can be grown in controlled conditions such as greenhouses (glass or plastic), reducing the risk of a bad harvest and extending the supply period.

The possibilities of exports to the EU are small for products that are highly perishable or delicate such as lettuce and other leafy vegetables. When the harvest in the EU countries is too small and vegetables need to be imported, countries that are located close to the EU have the advantage of short transportation time and lower transport costs.

When analysing EUROSTAT trade statistics, we find that major vegetable products with a high degree of self-sufficiency are lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, cabbages, tomatoes and sweet pepper. Developing countries play an important role in the supply of peas and beans during the off-season. Other important off-season products supplied by developing countries are snow peas (mange-tout), sweet peppers and courgettes.

Source: ProVerde

In the course of the Master Class training series, participants wrote a concise export marketing plan. The structure of the export marketing plan was used as the framework for the special topics covered in the training programme: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), post-harvest and logistical requirements, market research in the flower business, getting the best price on the auction, and internal and external communication and client orientation.

The four Master Class sessions were organised in early May, mid June, mid September and early December of this year. CBI trainers included Milco Rikken (ProVerde) who was in charge of coordination and execution, as well as Dana van Hes (E4 Consulting), Jeroen van der Hulst (Flowerwatch), Maarten van Schie (OTV Wageningen) and Maarten van Woerden (Helicon).

The training series was carried out in close collaboration with EHPEA, the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers Exporters Association and the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Addis Ababa.

Often, the wholesale companies have established a special dealing room on their company premises for this purpose. In the comfort of their own offices, anywhere in the world, they can buy online on all the FloraHolland auction clocks. Growers, who supply the products, can see in real-time on the Internet how the buying process is going.

How does KOA work?
On the screen, one clock is always shown as the main clock. This can be used for remote buying. The other clocks are running in the background, so you can switch rapidly from one to the next. Alongside the main clock, you may have a maximum of five supplemental clocks open on the video screen to follow these auctions by lot. These supplemental clocks display the grower’s name, the product, and the pricing structure.

99.9% of supply available at 5 a.m.
KOA buyers may download information on the day’s supply every auction day beginning at 4 a.m. In practice, this means that by 5 a.m. you will already have all the information you need for about 99.9% of the total cut flower, houseplant and garden plant supply for the day.

Source: FloraHolland

At young plant level, the bromeliad market is extremely competitive and is dominated by small number of relatively big breeding companies (Corn. Bak, Deroose Plants, Exoticplant) who compete for market share with a steady stream of new patented varieties. These breeders (or so-called improvers or hybridisers) are working constantly to produce ever more spectacular and hardy varieties for the market. The search for finding new varieties is fuelled by one thing: new stock.

European breeders usually breed, select and propagate their own young plant material. These young plants are sold to domestic growers as well as growers abroad. The companies have switched more and more to in-vitro propagation over the last ten to twenty years.

The competition for finding and being the first to use new superior clones and new species of bromeliads, especially in the genera Guzmania, Vriesea, and Aechmea therefore is fierce. Many superior hybrids have been produced in Europe and are now grown under licensing agreements all over the world. A single patented variety could be worth millions to the patent holder.

In the case of bromeliad young plant material, The Netherlands and Belgium are the biggest producers and exporters. Exports of bromeliad cutting go mainly to Italy, Germany and Denmark, but also outside Europe to USA and the Far East (China, Japan, South Korea).

However, bromeliad cuttings can often be grown faster and cheaper in nurseries abroad than in Europe. Many such facilities exist in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia and, to a lesser extent, in other Latin American countries.

Most commercial laboratories for in-vitro propagation of plants are located in The Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany and Belgium. More and more production facilities in developing countries are used besides those in Europe. Labour costs in developing countries are low and the techniques are available. Usually, a company in a developing country works under licence of the European company.

A trend that can be recognised is the demand for laboratories in developing countries which have experience with specific products and developed ‘protocols’ for these products.

Source: ProVerde

The CBI training activity was organised together with Agexport, the Guatemalan Exporters Association.

This training programme was a so-called ‘general introductory’ workshop intended for middle- and farm management level who had not yet participated in previous CBI training activities.

About a third of the participants were growers of young plants & plants, another third mainly foliage, and the last third traditional flowers (roses, summer flowers, bulb flowers).

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.

Programme
▪ The training consists of 2 programme days.
▪ Proposed location is Guatemala City, Guatemala.
▪ Proposed dates are 9-10 February 2010.

Target Audience
The training is meant for growers/exporters from small and medium-sized flower growing companies (more than 50% local ownership) who have export potential or are already exporting to the EU. The participants should have one of the following positions in the participating company:
▪ Export Manager / Farm Manager
▪ Production Manager

Further information
For further information on attending the workshop and venue please contact Mrs. Brigitte Obrock (Agexport), who is responsible for the logistical organisation and critical selection of participants on location.

Almost all summer flowers are sold as fillers, mixed with other flowers and greenery in bouquets. Particularly during the European winter months, large quantities of summer flowers like Gypsophila, Hypericum, Ornithogalum, Ranunculus, Solidago and Veronica are imported to complement European supply and to allow for a year-round supply of bouquets. Consequently, the best export window for summer flower exporters in developing countries is during the period October-May.

The two main exporters of summer flowers to the European Union are Kenya and Israel. Besides Kenya, other developing countries playing an important role in supplying summer flowers to the EU market are amongst others Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe.

Source: CBI, ProVerde

The role of the Dutch and German auctions in the European tropical flower trade is considerable. Nevertheless, most tropical flowers enter the EU market directly via importers who are either specialised in tropical flowers or who import tropical flowers as a supplement to their assortment of mainly traditional flowers.

Exporters should keep in mind that the EU flower trade is becoming more and more professional. The main criteria for success for a tropical flower exporter is being able to meet the ever-increasing quality requirements.

This market survey covers the EU market and the markets in Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands. It provides information on consumption, production & trade (market sizes and trends), trade channels for market entry, prices, market access requirements and business practices & sales promotion.

Source: CBI, ProVerde

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.

ProVerde involvement encompassed, amongst which:

Kenya

• Series of workshops on export marketing and corporate social responsibility.
• Market scan “Position of the Kenya flower industry in the EU”.
• Series of workshops on strategic planning and writing an export marketing plan.
• Individual farm counselling sessions.
• Market tour and meeting event.

Uganda

• One-week seminar and market tour in The Netherlands.
• Seminar & on-farm training: “From Product to Market orientation”.
• Workshop “Internal and External Customer Orientation”.
• Workshop “Building partnerships in the European flower market”.

Egypt

• Market tour and seminar.
• Strategic marketing seminar and clustered farm visits in Egypt.
• Seminar and clustered farm visits on Corporate Social Responsibility.

South Africa

• Workshops on entrepreneurial skills for flower exporters.
• Individual counselling session.

Market scans
In preparation of training missions, ProVerde carried out a number of market scans. The main objective of these market scans was to get a better understanding of strong and weak points of the floricultural sector in the specific African country and to identify opportunities and threats, all from the view of the European customer. Typically, a number of managers in the Netherlands flower industry were interviewed who have experience with cut flowers and foliage from that specific African country. The results of the market scan were used in the workshops and provided to the companies participating in the programme.

Handbook Cut Flowers
ProVerde compiled te ‘Handbook Cut Flowers’. The handbook is an information source and reminder of all topics discussed during the Export Coaching Programme for Cut Flowers in Egypt, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. It will also help exporters deal with some practical problems. It contains useful checklists, exercises, practical worksheets, and questionnaires.