ROYAL BASE CORPORATION
Linking closer to the regional economy
GARDEN RETAIL
How are Dutch garden centres faring?
FRANCE IN FOCUS
Sival's view of greenhouse horticulture
WHAT DOES FAIRTRADE CERTIFICATION ACTUALLY MEAN?
London event discusses how ensuring workers’ rights is not only fair; it is good business
Join thé global horticulture technology exhibition at Amsterdam from 13 - 15 June 2023. Experience horticulture solutions, find the latest innovations and get inspired.
Meet new and interesting leads from all over the world
Thousands of horticulture professionals, including market leaders and innovators, are present
Matchmaking: Prepare your visit and make appointments in the virtual platform
More than 100 knowledge sessions
Innovation & Concept Awards
Spotlight on Vertical Farming, Plant Compounds, AI & Robotics and Renewable Energy
GreenTech Amsterdam is a global meeting place for all horticultural technology professionals with the focus on the early stages of the horticultural chain and the current issues growers face.
Your chance to meet the horticulture world in 3 days!
FloraCulture International encourages the pursuit of joint activities in areas of mutual interest with national, and international societies, and organisations. Agreements have been reached between FCI and leading growers and trade associations worldwide. FCI is proud to work in collaboration with:
As the approving body for International Horticultural Exhibitions, AIPH is disappointed and saddened to hear the news that the Dutch horticultural industry will no longer be looking to organise a Floriade in the way they have done every ten years since 1960.
AIPH can see that the recent Floriade in Almere failed to achieve its short-term financial objectives in a tough post-Covid environment.
However, with different management, investment, government support and marketing, we believe the outcome could have been different, as demonstrated by previous Floriade Expos and similar Expos in other countries.
Many cities around the world remain very proud of the legacy of the Expos they have hosted, and in the future Almere will also be proud of the new area they have created.
In light of the problems with the recent Floriade, we believe it makes sense for the Netherlands to reflect on their future plans and certainly, a new approach would be needed. We wish them well and offer them our support in this.
AIPH-approved Expos have been proven to generate over 500 million euros of direct economic benefit to host cities. The interest in hosting such events is increasing in other countries, and AIPH will work with them to deliver successful Expos.
As many recent successful Expos show, hosting an International Horticultural Exhibition is a great way for any city to create a unique visitor attraction, establish itself as a global green city and attract investment and growth.
As ‘the world’s champion for the power of plants, ’ AIPH looks forward to working with upcoming Expo host cities to create unique and spectacular events to meet the needs and challenges of our time and inspire millions in the enjoyment of plants and landscape.
MAY 2023 VOLUME 33 NUMBER 5
14 WHAT DOES FAIRTRADE CERTIFICATION ACTUALLY MEAN?
London event discusses how ensuring workers’ rights is not only fair it is also good businesss
18 PHALAENOPSIS
Dutch, Canadians and Germans lay the foundation for starting plants production facility in Edmonton.
20 EXPLORING EUROPE’S GARDEN CENTRES
Episode 3 takes us to the Netherlands, where we interview Tuinbranche Nederland’s deputy director Brenda Horstra
23 WORLD HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS
Five things you to know about Expo 2023 Doha, Qatar
26 HARDY NURSERY STOCK
Daphne 'Perfume Princess' rises to prominence
28 CERTIFICATION
GLOBALG.A.P. director Dr Kristian Moeller discusses the merits of the new Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA)
30 FRANCE IN FOCUS
Sampling the sentiments in greenhouse horticulture at Sival
FloraCulture International (FCI) is an independent trade magazine with the largest circulation for a world publication of its kind. FCI is published for the ornamental horticulture industry by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH). It is published 11 times per year worldwide. Contributing writers: Rachel Anderson, Marcel Boonekamp, Tim Briercliffe, Martin Deasy, Ruth Goudy, Anisa Gress, Jaap Kras, Simone Lyn van Oene, Ron van der Ploeg, Audrey Timm, Rachel Wakefield and Robert Wang. Contact: info@floracultureinternational. com. Address: FloraCulture International, Horticulture House, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RN, United Kingdom. Editor: Ron van der Ploeg, ron@ floracultureinternational.com Worldwide Advertising Office: Angie Duffree, angie@floracultureinternational.com. T. +31 6 403 277 35. Magazine designer: Rachel Wakefield. Cover image: Agnes Chebii, Fairtrade. AIPH ©2023 FloraCulture International magazine. All rights reserved. Publisher is not liable for the content of the advertisements. Photographs by permission of copyright owners.
Building on the success of last year’s inaugural edition, Trade Mission Poland (19-20 September 2023) will once again promote flower and plant export toward Polish retail.
Are you part of a company active in the commercial production of floricultural products, a floriculture exporter, or do you do both?
Would you like to do business with Polish retail customers, catch up with existing Polish business partners or be informed about developments within the Polish retail market? Then join the FCI/ AIPH/Fresh Markets Trade Mission Poland between 19-20 September 2023.
This two-day B2B networking event is in association with Fresh Market B2B Meeting and Trade Show 2023, FloraCulture International magazine and its publisher, the International Association of Horticultural Producers
(AIPH).
The Trade Mission Poland 2023 starts on Tuesday, 19 September, with retail visits and a networking dinner. The next day, on Wednesday, 20 September, we can promise a full-day matchmaking event under one roof at the Fresh Market B2B Meeting and Trade Show 2023. No queueing or waiting is guaranteed, as your meetings will have already been pre-arranged after registering. Fresh Markets is currently busy attracting the same high-quality retailers who attended in 2022, and the 2023 list will be published soon.
The retail visits and networking dinner on day
The UK’s precision breeding bill — enabling plant breeding while facing hurdles such as climate change, food security and sustainable farming — was approved by Parliament in March. Many are applauding the bill.
Precision breeding allows for genetic changes to continue producing more beneficial traits, which can occur in natural and traditional breeding processes. This process is different from genetic modification, where DNA from one species is inserted into another. Genetic editing has the potential to allow health, environmental and commercial benefits to be
developed at a quicker pace than traditional breeding. It also has the potential to help tackle worldwide challenges like food security, climate change and human health challenges. Several countries already cultivate genetically edited crops.
The Government’s Genetic Technology fact sheet published with the bill says that precision breeding is a range of different
one is free. The Fresh Market event on day two charges different fees depending on if you participate as an exhibitor, exhibitor or/and sponsor.
Flights and accommodation come at the participants’ own expense. For more information, visit our website Trade Mission Poland 2023.
breeding technologies. These technologies include gene editing, which allows DNA to be edited “much more efficiently and precisely than current breeding techniques”.
This legislation is significant
for plant breeders in England as it will enable and support genetic innovation rather than make the guidelines more strict states BSPB (British Society of Plant Breeders).
The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) welcomes rescheduling the opening for Expo Kahramanmaraş 2023 to Saturday, 12 August, considering the gargantuan effects of the 7.8 and 7.7 Türkiye–Syria earthquakes that devastated the lives of millions.
‘Nature-Friendly City and Sensitivity’ is the International Horticultural Expo’s theme, which gained a more profound relevance for the people of Kahramanmaraş after surviving the earthquake’s aftershocks. Mr Hanefi Mahçiçek, President of Expo 2023 Kahramanmaras and Mayor of Onikisubat Municipality spoke about how the Expo’s site quickly became a makeshift sanctuary for the survivors.
The mayor described the turbulent situation at the recent AIPH Expo Conference as part of the Spring Meeting hosted in Lisbon, Portugal. Mr Mahçiçek recounted how the Exhibition buildings on the 79 hectare Expo site were unaffected by the earthquake – “not a scratch”. But in this province, where 1,171,298 citizens live, the Turkish Government confirms that 10,800 buildings were razed, more than 100,000 people were injured, and the death toll reached 12,000 in just the city of Kahramanmaraş alone.
From 6 February, Mayor Mahçiçek said the Expo took on a new purpose for the people of Kahramanmaraş. The Expo’s Hobby Houses and 3,000-spaced car parking area swiftly became host to the displaced people offering them a tent and container camp to protect them from the freezing temperatures plummeting
SOUTH KOREA
many degrees below zero.
Representing the Expo, Mr Harun Güzel added to the Expo 2023 Kahramanmaraş presentation at AIPH’s Spring Meeting Expo Conference, where he described the aftermath. He said there is nowhere in the city centre for people to socialise and return to normal. People are still afraid. The Expo site is the only open, green space where people feel safe with their families and, through the power of nature, these spaces can heal.
Expo 2023 Kahramanmaraş was approved in 2018 at the AIPH Congress in Padova, Italy. It was Mayor Mahçiçek’s vision to raise the city’s profile on a global stage. The Expo’s prescient sub-themes will explore nature-based education for children; biophilic urban renewal design; urban horticulture and local food; greener, healthier, and happier, and the wisdom of simplicity.
The mayor had planned the Expo’s opening date to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic on Sunday, 23 April.
Logistically, with all these challenges, this is now not possible, and at the Spring Meeting, AIPH agreed to reschedule Expo 2023 Kahramanmaraş, which will now take place from 12 August to 30 November
Marcel Boonekamp is the Director of Growing at Ohiobased Green Circle Growers, a market-leading producer of Phalaenopsis orchids, tropical plants, foliage, and succulents in North America. Born in The Netherlands, he grew up at his parent’s greenhouse. After college, he joined the family company growing tomatoes and, later, roses. In 2015, he and his family moved to the USA to join Green Circle Growers, where he overlooks the production of Phalaenopsis.
“At this year’s TIOS orchid show in Taiwan, I had the honour to present on the current state of the U.S. orchid industry. I discussed how it has changed over the last three years and navigated a wave of supply chain disruptions amid a challenging retail environment and evolving consumer preferences.
Over the past 25 years, orchids have shown steady yearover-year growth. Among indoor houseplants, orchids make up one-third of the total wholesale value of all potted flowering crops in the U.S., with market potential only rivalled by potted foliage plants. Reliable market data is not easy to find, but based on conversations with a range of orchid professionals, we think that the USA annually produces around 36 million units, representing a wholesale value of $300mn.
While orchids are a year-round crop, there are floral holidays that spike demand, like Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day. These occasions warrant the support of Taiwanese imports to support consumer demand in the U.S.
The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) 75th Annual Congress will take place in Suncheon, Republic of Korea on 17-21 September 2023.
The programme outline is as follows:
17 September – Arrival of delegates
18 September – AIPH Expo Conference and tour of the 2023 Suncheonman
International Garden Expo (see page 38 for further details)
19 September – AIPH General Meeting and industry conference
20 September – AIPH Green City Conference and Green City tours
21 September – Professional visits
22 September – Departure of delegates
Further details on www.aiph.org/event/75th-annual-congress/
Since Green Circle Growers launched ‘Just Add Ice® Orchids’, it has actively been promoting easy care to the end consumer to make orchids accessible to everyone in the U.S. and Canada. Through our brand, we interact daily with the end consumer on our website, social media channels and orchid care blog to educate on plant care, fun facts, and giveaways. All in line with our mission; ‘To make every day better with plants’.
Within our market research, we look closely at the U.S. consumer in terms of gender, age, income, education, household composition, and housing. Based on the typical U.S. orchid consumer demographics, we believe that the orchid is resilient to higher inflation. While the orchid production and demand may level out in the future, we foresee a steady consumer demand through continued innovation and matching our product to the ever-evolving consumer preferences.”
Royal Base Corporation from Chinese Taipei scooped Gold in the Cut Flowers & Bulbs category of AIPH’s 2023 International Grower of the Year Awards. FloraCulture International caught up with the company’s sales manager Robert Wang to understand the sentiments in the global orchid industry and share his emotions towards winning AIPH’s prestigious award
The Royal Base Cooperation is among the world’s leading growers specialising in Phalaenopsis variety breeding, young plants from tissue culture, and the production of half-finished and saleable Phalaenopsis pot plants. It was established in 2003.
The corporation operates from its headquarters in Chinese Taipei and its breeding centre and tissue culture laboratory in its Changhua site, around 175km southwest of the capital.
Their Apollo farm in Dalat, Vietnam, is Royal Base Corporation’s flagship nursery for the production of freshly cut Phalaenopsis and Phalaenopsis young plant production.
The company has invested in state-of-the-art glass greenhouses and an advanced environmental control system to maintain high-quality products and a steady year-round production of 1.8 million stems of cut Phalaenopsis per year in Vietnam.
FloraCulture International: You won Gold in the Cut Flowers & Bulbs Award of the AIPH International Grower of the Year 2023; what does this mean for you personally and the Royal Base Corporation team?
Robert Wang: “I am thrilled to share that Royal Base Corporation, the horticultural grower where I have proudly worked for the past five years, has reached a major milestone in its 20-year journey. Despite the daily challenges we face, we have tried our best to solve them, and I could not be more excited to celebrate this achievement.
Furthermore, our hard work and dedication to the industry have paid off in the form of the AIPH International Grower of the Year award. Winning this prestigious award is a testament to our team's commitment to excellence and proves our efforts have been noticed. I am truly honoured to be a part of this incredible journey and excited for what the future holds for Royal Base Corporation.”
What ignited the spark to enter the IGOTY Awards – and would you recommend others to go through the gruelling jury process?
“Our company has always been interested in participating in various competitions, and thanks to some industrial pioneers who recommended us, we immediately decided to take on the challenge. We are thrilled with the results and couldn't be happier. Royal Base Corporation highly recommends other horticultural players to join the competition. It not only makes the competition more interesting but also provides more opportunities to showcase the beauty of horticulture to the world. Our recommendation to all newcomers is to take part in this competition, and we're excited to see what new talent and innovation will come to the fore.”
Apollo and its brand Sunpride brand offer purple and pink coloured flowers too to keep pace with changing consumer preferences.
Does your marketing team create the trends? What has been the biggest success to date?
“Royal Base’s success is the result of the joint efforts of our business and production teams. Our business team works tirelessly to promote our flowers to flower lovers worldwide. However, the florists and importers truly give us a big hand in spreading the word about our product. We are proud to have collaborated with renowned florists such as Preston Bailey, Nicolai Bergmann, Nixon Tran, Guy Satchukorn, Khoi Ha, and many others. Thanks to them, our flowers have been used to create breathtaking decorations that showcase the beauty of our product.
Meanwhile, our production team in Vietnam and Taiwan puts in tremendous effort to cultivate the best quality Phalaenopsis flowers. We combine the strengths of both regions to produce unrivalled flowers in size, petal shape, and vase life.”
Robert Wang completed his Master's in plant pathology at National Taiwan University. After graduating, he joined the diplomatic, military service in Belize for a year, where our project focused on handling HLB citrus disease.
After military service, Wang discovered his interest in travelling the world for overseas sales while incorporating his academic background. He found the ornamental industry quite fascinating, so he joined Royal Base Co. over five years ago. He is pleased to have grown with the company and has witnessed its continuous improvement every day.
Asked about his most satisfying moment in the organisation’s history - aside from winning an award at IGOTY23, he says, “Royal Base Co. has had many shining moments throughout its history. For example, the company participated in HortiFair 2008, 2009, and 2010 and achieved impressive results. In 2016, the company also won the overall champion award at the Taiwan International Orchid Show (TIOS). However, the most satisfying moment for the company is when customers provide feedback on their positive flower experiences, which brings great joy to the head office.”
I am keen to know about the logistics of this operation – you produce from Vietnam and ship internationally –what’s the journey like before the products reach their destination, including details on the packaging?
“Royal Base’s Apollo farm in Dalat harvests daily. The sales team will allocate the flowers based on the stock available to fulfil orders. On the shipping day, our team will finish packing before 5pm, and the truck will transport our cargo to the airport, which takes around 6-8 hours to arrive at Ho Chi Minh airport. This process helps prevent any possible damage from strong sunlight. The next day, all the flowers are ready to be flown to their destinations.
Depending on the customer's demand, we typically pack ten or six stems in one box, and ten boxes become one bundle. Depending on the destination, if the temperature is too cold, we will cover the bundle with a bubble layer to prevent cold shock.
We have constantly been improving our packaging to ensure that our flowers arrive in the best possible condition. We have a team responsible for packaging design, and we have invested in modern equipment to ensure that our flowers are well-protected during transportation. Our packaging design protects the flowers and adds an extra layer of beauty to the overall presentation. Our logistics team works closely with our production team to ensure we can fulfil orders on time while maintaining the quality of our products.”
Tell us more about the farm’s post-harvest treatments.
“We typically use pre-treatment and post-harvest processes. After cutting the flowers, we keep them at 17 degrees Celsius for one day. Then, we dip them in flower nutrition before storing them in a 12 degrees Celsius storage room. I believe the secret to our high-quality flowers lies in our cultivation process. Additionally, we implement an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system to prevent pest infestations; as a result, we rarely encounter quarantine issues.”
Can you tell me more about the custom-built greenhouse and how it’s managed?
“It is designed to create a microclimate that is optimal for the growth and development of our Phalaenopsis orchids. The greenhouse is equipped with advanced technology, such as automated temperature and humidity control systems, shading, and ventilation systems that can be adjusted based on the specific needs of each orchid. To maintain optimal growing conditions, we closely monitor the environmental factors in the greenhouse, such as temperature, humidity, and light. Our greenhouse also provides a comfortable working environment for our employees.”
What is your view of today's global ornamental horticulture trade compared to when you began at the company?
“Judging from my many years of experience in this sector, I have seen significant changes in the global market. Initially, the trade primarily focused on local and regional markets. However, recent advances in transportation and logistics have made it easier to
transport plants across long distances, opening new markets for growers and producers. Furthermore, the rise of e-commerce and online marketplaces has made it easier for consumers to purchase plants from around the world, further fuelling global trade growth.
At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the importance of sustainability and responsible sourcing in the ornamental horticulture trade. Consumers and industry players alike are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of plant production and transportation and the working conditions of those involved in the trade.
Overall, these changes have brought about many positive developments in the global ornamental horticulture trade. By embracing sustainability and responsible sourcing practices, we can ensure that the trade continues to grow in a way that is both economically viable and environmentally and socially responsible.”
How significant is the social pressure on your business to produce more sustainably?
“We don't consider sustainability as pressure; it is our responsibility towards the world. Royal Base Co. has recently realised the challenges of rising energy prices due to the ongoing conflicts. As a result, we strive to implement sustainable practices in our business operations.
Being located in Vietnam’s highlands, we benefit from relatively stable sunlight and temperature, which reduces the need for manual control in the greenhouse. In the future, we believe the ornamental business will become more closely linked to the regional economy. This means that people will prefer products with shorter transportation distances.
Moreover, our company's primary goal is to reduce packaging waste and to recycle energy to minimise our environmental impact.”
What tools or certifications does Royal Base Corporation use in its sustainability approach?
“Regarding certifications, we undergo an annual audit by MPS-ECAS to ensure that we are continuously progressing towards sustainability.
As for our current tools and practices, we meticulously control our costs for all materials used, including petroleum, water, and fertilisers. Our team conducts daily checks using PRIVA data to ensure that we maintain an optimal greenhouse environment while keeping track of our energy consumption. Regarding future tools and initiatives, we are exploring installing solar panels and partnering with companies
The company has invested in state-of-the-art glass greenhouses and an advanced environmental control system to maintain highquality products and a steady year-round production of 1.8 million stems of cut Phalaenopsis per year in Vietnam.
The 66-ha Apollo farm -including 5.3ha of greenhouse space, grows its Phalaenopsis at an altitude of 1,000 metres.
like BLUE RADIX, which specialises in AI solutions for greenhouse operations. These measures will increase our efficiency and automation and reinforce our commitment to sustainability and responsible environmental stewardship.”
In your opinion, does focusing on sustainability undermine or improve the financial results of a plant grower?
“Improving our sustainability practices will certainly bring positive financial results for our company in the long run. Initially, we may need to make larger investments, such as installing solar panels, but over time, these facilities will allow us to store electric energy more efficiently. This can lead to cost savings and a more stable energy supply in the future. In addition, as consumers become more eco-conscious, our commitment to sustainability can also help to build customer loyalty and strengthen our brand image, leading to increased sales and revenue in the long term.”
Tell us about your global view on the challenges and opportunities for ornamental horticulture and Taiwan’s role in the international arena. What is the value of international collaboration?
“The challenges facing the ornamental horticulture industry include the instability of the global situation. In the event of a war, all energy must be directed towards the agricultural consumption industry to prevent food shortages. However, there are also opportunities arising from anxiety over the state of the world, as people have an increased demand for ornamental products. The presence of flowers and plants can create a sense of happiness that is difficult to quantify with numbers. As an established agricultural and horticultural country, Taiwan is committed to improving its cultivation technology and providing high-quality and sustainable cut flowers to the world for decades to come. Despite being a small island, Taiwan is open-minded and willing to collaborate with other countries to leverage their advantages.”
Simone Lyn van Oene is director of sales and marketing at Joost Kalanchoe, an 8-ha greenhouse grower of potted Kalanchoe and Euphorbia Miliianas for outdoors and sold the flower auction in Holambra. To expand her already vast knowledge in horticulture, she followed internships at Stefan Slijkerman and Dümmen Orange in the Netherlands, Beans and Greens in the USA and Holambra in Brazil.
“The eyes of the world are turned to Brazil when the subject is sustainability. I guess it is not always easy to know exactly what happens on the other side of the big pond. So, here I am today to tell our side of the Brazilian story.
Reliable data always matters. This is why I would like to mention some figures provided by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) showing that 49,8 per cent of the Brazilian territory is preserved with native forest. Around 25,6 per cent of this area is preserved within rural properties.
This is the result of our current Brazilian Forest Code, which has been in force since 2012. It determines the preservation of areas in rural properties according to the biome where the farm is located. The preservation obligations go from 20 per cent to 80 per cent. In our state São Paulo, the most developed one in Brazil, the Code stipulates that we must preserve 20 per cent of our land.
Narrowing the subject down to ornamental horticulture, 40 per cent of the production concentrates in the state of São Paulo, mainly in Holambra.
Ornamental horticulture represents a minor 0.57 per cent of our country’s agribusiness GDP. But over the past few years, our sector has shown tremendous growth ranging between 10- 15 per cent per year. Ornamental horticulture is not only a rapidly expanding sector of the country’s economy, but it is also an innovation powerhouse, with primarily Dutch hi-tech helping growers to improve efficiency and productivity.
One shining example of horticultural innovation is irrigation. Our company, for example, uses the ebb and flood floors and drip irrigation. Technology has saved up to 50 and 70 per cent of water and fertiliser consumption, respectively.
In addition, ebb and flood systems contribute to a closed-loop system, recycling and re-using all the irrigation water. For the water supply, producers invest in rainwater retention basins. Some companies here in Brazil store up to 700 litres of rainwater per m² of the greenhouse. From a global agricultural perspective, Brazil is becoming the world’s largest consumer of biological products. EMBRAPA research found that, while considering the growth rate in recent years, Brazil’s area under biological control is more than 70 million hectares. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen these expressive numbers in floriculture, but when looking back, there have been improvements in the supply and quality of biological products
With all of Brazil’s available sunshine, it was about time solar energy took off. Today it occupies the third place of Brazilian energy sources, mainly due to favourable conditions that made companies invest in solar energy in the last three years. According to a survey, we have approximately 10 megawatts installed by rural properties only in Holambra alone.
These were just some of the sustainable practices applied by our horticulture sector. I hope that I have contributed positively to your perception of Brazil and made you curious to know more! All the data mentioned can be found on the EMBRAPA website, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.”
On 29 March 2023, at the Garden Museum in London, Fairtrade launched “an event to inspire collaborative action on sustainability in the flower industry” — FCI has the details
When a person gives a bunch of flowers, are they really giving? If it is a birthday, funeral, or treat, you hope those flowers send a message of love, support, and friendship. What Fairtrade flowers set out to do is to extend that compassion throughout the supply chain. Kerrina Thorogood, Partnerships Director at the Fairtrade Foundation, explained that behind each bouquet of flowers is an industry severely affected by climate change and growers, usually women, who may face discrimination, poor wages, and even human rights abuses. It is this dichotomy that Fairtrade wants to set right.
Flower farms are working in environments like never before. They have faced hardship with
loss of trade during the pandemic but are also severely affected by climate change.
The area most conducive to flower growing is along the equator and notably lacks water. Add to that the consumer concerns about plastics, waste, carbon footprint and agrochemicals. When farms may be short on funds and are dealing with lower yields, they face a need to pay better wages and require investment to meet environmental concerns. These are bound to be barriers to entry into Fairtrade certification. As Dr Jill Timms, Co-lead of the Sustainable Flowers Project, stated, “Raising the value of flowers is important”, and throughout the one-day event in London, it became clear that consumers need to be aware that there are consequences of cheap flowers in the UK shops.
Part of the panel discussions was Wenedemeneh Engida, Fairtrade
Africa and Gonzaga Mungai, who leads the Fairtrade Flowers Programme at Fairtrade Africa. They explained how much the ‘Fairtrade Premium’ has really helped.
This is an extra payment on top of the usual price of flowers paid by the customer for Fairtrade flowers and passed on directly by the retailer.
The workers have the autonomy to decide how that money is invested in their community, for instance, free medication for employees or schooling for their children. On one occasion, flower farms amalgamated their funds to build a new maternity unit where previously there had been six women to a bed.
Wenedemeneh explained that countries are facing inflation of 40 per cent, and governments are investing massively in the war; even if people have better wages, they cannot always afford to take care of themselves or their families.
One of the most inspiring parts of the day was meeting Agnes Chebii. She described her life when she began working on a flower farm at 14 and how significant the changes were when that business became Fairtrade certified.
Agnes described how at 14, her mother died and that she had a baby herself. Her grandmother and aunt were helping to look after the baby, and she needed to go out to work to earn a living for herself and her child. The story of how she found a job involved walking over 10km; surviving a dog attack, yet she persisted in persuading someone to give her a job despite being underage and gaining permission from the elders in her village. She described how she was desperate. She may have been a child herself, but she was in a position where she had to drop out of school, and employment was necessary to survive.
Since then, she has been on a 23-year journey working on a flower farm. She described how when she first began, she needed to be more trusted to deal with the flowers. She was only allowed to sweep up where other women cut and graded the flowers. As time passed, she was taught to cut the flowers, put them in buckets, and precisely handle the flowers. Flower farming is a setting where women make up most of the workforce. There are places where they can face low pay discrimination and abuse.
Agnes’ face lit up when she began to talk about Fairtrade and the difference it has made to her life. She explained how the working practices transformed. Before that time, she said there was no PPE, and nobody would care if someone fell. Now there is Health and Safety in place. In the past, people would not have been paid overtime, often worked without lunch, and dealt with sexual harassment. Now there is a floor wage and workers’ rights.
TRAINING
Agnes was enthusiastic about how training is given to the workforce, and she now sees women in leadership
positions. She was incredibly excited about how now she sees skilled women electricians working on irrigation and technology. This was something only men were considered able to do in the past. She has now become a senior supervisor and the Chair of the Gender Committee. She is elected by the workers for the workers, and they have the autonomy to manage those forums themselves. If there is gender-based violence on-site, the perpetrator is sacked immediately. When asked how this is enforced, she explained that if this did not happen, the Fairtrade certificate would be taken away immediately.
AGNES TODAY
Since Fairtrade certification, a supply chain was introduced to Karen Roses, and the farm has expanded; as the farm’s Senior Supervisor, Agnes oversees 30 greenhouses between 1ha and 3ha in size. Each has its supervisor and teams of six to 10 people. She described how each person has an area within that space to tend. Over the season, they prepare and clean the bed, zero bends, de-leaf, keep on top of sanitation, fertilisers, and irrigation, remove suckers, re-bend, and harvest. Agnes now has a total of two boys and two girls, all of whom have gone to school, and, thanks to the education afforded by Fairtrade Premium, her first son has become a journalist.
Jonny Young is the Ethical/ Sustainability Manager at JZ Flowers. They are committed to strong compliance and sourcing the best ethical and sustainable flowers possible. They are part of the Dutch Flower Group, which distributes an average of 75 million flowers and 10 million bouquets weekly to customers worldwide. He explains why Fairtrade is good for the flower industry.
Young said that, while there has previously been lots of work in the food sector, flowers felt like the forgotten sector which needs to be addressed. Covid-19 brought light to the risks in the system. When growers couldn’t export products, it had a terrible impact on workers in some of the most vulnerable areas of the globe. The floral sector needs to better educate consumers on sustainability risks and challenges. It requires the whole supply chain to be involved for this to happen.
At the moment, there are many certification schemes a supplier must meet to supply to UK retailers. The Dutch Flower Group is a founding member of FSI (Floriculture Sustainability Initiative), with Fairtrade forming part of the FSI basket of standards. At the day to discuss ‘flower-powered partnerships with Fairtrade’, many of the big players in the flower market were brought together in one room.
Key areas identified to work on together are carbon footprint, living wage and reducing plastic. Due to the complexity of the issues faced and the competitive nature of flower markets, Young was realistic when he said, “None of these issues can be dealt with on our own.”
Fairtrade is unique in its implementation of the Fairtrade Premium. JZ Flowers pay for the cost of the flowers but then spends an
additional 10 per cent directly to a Fairtrade premium committee formed by elected workers on the farm. Young believes that the Fairtrade logo for consumers is important because it is clearly recognisable and trusted. There is a licence fee that must be paid in order to be able to use it. He said that in Fairtrade fortnight JZ Flowers produced an extensive display of clearly marked Fairtrade bouquets for Aldi. However, these were more expensive than other bouquets; they sold really well. He believes that as long as the product is good, people are prepared to pay for it.
The Dutch Flower Group has a strong relationship with Herburg Roses in Ethiopia and buys about 100 million stems per annum. JZ Flowers supplies to Aldi, who have invested in a ‘Women’s School of Leadership’ project there. Besides the project’s outcomes, this encourages mutual trust and commitment to work together from grower to retailer. Young explained that this type of project would not have come about without transparency and openness. In the past, growers and suppliers were potentially fearful of being open to risks and challenges due to reputational damage or losing business.
Being involved with Fairtrade and having traceability and transparency makes it easier to find out where things might be going wrong and work together to tackle them.
Currently, the floor rate of $2.15 per day is reviewed annually, but often this pays for the barest of essentials. The premium can act as a cushion against these economic hardships.
At the moment, there are only 74 Fairtrade Certified flower farms globally. Those farms are principally in Kenya, where there are 47 from more than a total of hundreds of farms. That sector employs 200,000 workers, predominantly women. Further, two million Kenyans are directly impacted by the flower market. Fairtrade seeks to address the conditions in all sectors of Kenya’s economy. Over the past decades, pioneers and visionaries have contributed to advancing Kenya’s flower industry, building schools and hospitals, and providing child care, but at last, there is collaboration to make this more consistent.
In the UK, currently, five major supermarkets stock Fairtrade flowers – Lidl, Asda, M&S, Aldi and the Coop and they were represented on the day. The first florist to use Fairtrade flowers was Lavender Green Flowers. Hazel Gardiner, its florist, content creator, and broadcaster was there to give support and a floristry workshop using the beautiful roses. Eighty per cent of cut flowers for sale in the UK are imported, so it was good that these parties were involved in the event as well as academics and experts and the day comprised panel discussions and breakout groups in the afternoon to discuss lifecycle assessments, net zero flower value chains and flower transport.”
As for consumers, Thorogood stated that 77 per cent of consumers in the UK have chosen to shop for Fairtrade products. Besides consumer awareness, there are complex issues to be addressed, but there is a wealth of knowledge from other sectors, such as chocolate, wine, and coffee.
Dr Timms said in her Scoping Study Report on the UK Floriculture Sector that “There is an acknowledgement across the supply chain that the future viability of the (flower)
sector is at risk if the issues highlighted... are not urgently addressed.”
At the event, she ended on a positive note when she said that often the people who are most concerned about the environment and best understand where the costs come from are the younger generation. There was a sense, from the people in the room, that now was the time to move things forward.
Michael Gidney – CEO of Fairtrade Foundation, concluded, “We need to work together. It is wonderful that we are making progress, but we must address human rights and climate change. I think it starts with the farmer, the grower, the worker. These are all our experts.”
IN THE PAST, PEOPLE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PAID OVERTIME, OFTEN WORKED WITHOUT LUNCH, AND DEALT WITH SEXUAL HARASSMENT. NOW THERE IS A FLOOR WAGE AND WORKERS’ RIGHTS.
Phalaenopsis breeder and propagator Sion and Bevo Farms started potting their first 200,000 Phalaenopsis young plants in their hi-tech greenhouse in Edmonton last February. The Canadian-Dutch-German partnership is attracting global attention as Bevo Farms
Edmonton is set to become a primary production facility for Phalaenopsis starting material, servicing customers in Canada and the USA
Bevo Farms production manager Peter Kuijvenhoven is all smiles as he walks through the company’s newly acquired, closed greenhouse in Edmonton. The climate throughout the crop is uniform, and there’s low insect pressure as the greenhouse has no vents. Greenhouse air can be reused and mixed with outside air, allowing the grower to maintain high CO2 levels while minimising their heating costs.
DRIVING QUALITY AND CONSISTENCY
The hi-tech greenhouse structure gives Kuijvenhoven every opportunity to drive quality and consistency in Phalaenopsis starter plants. “Correct light levels, right temperatures and well-balanced nutrition got the plants off to a flying vegetative start. During this stage, we promote leaf development and stimulate root growth, which is going very well. Also, we have developed sophisticated propagation with exemplary hygiene standards to build trust with our customers.”
Not long ago, the facility provided the ideal growing environment for cannabis. Until its former owner - one of many companies that rushed to capitalise on marijuana when Canada legalised cannabis in 2018 - realised that Canada was growing far more marijuana than the market needed. The moment marked the end of what was called Canada’s ‘green rush’ and ushered in a new era for the Edmonton greenhouse operation.
Bevo Farms now uses the flagship greenhouse for the production of Phalaenopsis plug plants and halffinished plants, grown the ‘Dutch way’, that is, growing them in a mix of cocopeat and bark. Shipping of the first batch of starting plants - with or without induced spikesis due to begin in August this year so growers can finish them in time for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day 2024.
FILLING A GAP IN THE MARKET
Sion’s production manager Randy van Paassen sees in the bond between Bevo Farms and Sion a gap in the market, offering the ‘end grower’ starting plants that don’t need lengthy acclimatisation after a four-week sea voyage from Taiwan. He notes, “The problem for Dutch orchid propagators venturing into the North American market is that young plants should be bare-rooted with no growing media attached to the roots. However, since May 2005, nurseries in the United States have been permitted to import potted phalaenopsis in approved Sphagnum moss media from Taiwan, giving the Taiwanese a competitive edge. We believe we can overcome competition with quality, cocopeat/bark grown starting plants, a vast and on-trend assortment including 60 cultivars in 12 cm pots and just-in-time delivery within two to four days.”
THE BEST ROUTE TO USA MARKETS
Bevo Farms and Sion aim to sell their Phalaenopsis young plants at home in Canada but mainly in various parts of the USA. He agrees
that Bevo Farms’ headquarters in Vancouver finds itself closer to the US border but still thinks the best route to USA markets begins in Edmonton. He explains, “The West Coast, apart from a few good companies in California, is not where Phalaenopsis production is concentrated most. It mostly happens on the East Coast near big urban agglomerations. With this in mind, we think Edmonton is the best central location to serve our US customers. Moreover, the Edmonton region has always been a key oil-marketing centre and is a major producer of natural gas. So, heating your greenhouse in Edmonton is cheaper than in Vancouver.”
The Edmonton-grown Phalaenopsis young plants can be sorted by colour and variety. The young plants are available year-round.
AUTHOR: RON VAN DER PLOEG PHOTOS: SION AND BEVO FARMSPerfume-packed, bigger flowers; more of them, earlier and for longer; all on a good-looking, unfussy plant.
Meet the earliest and longest flowering daphne ever bred –Daphne Perfume Princess®. I you haven’t spotted her yet in someone’s garden or at the garden centre, consider this your introduction to a truly exceptional garden plant, dare we say, the only daphne worth growing.
I you love traditional daphne varieties, up until now it’s probably been more about the perume rather than the flowers. But in the case o Daphne Perume Princess, the flowers are large, a sot pink or pure white and lovely in their own right. They are wonderully perumed, hitting out with that intense slightly citrus scent on a crisp coldseason day. Not only are the Daphne Perume Princess flowers big, but they cover the bush. They’re also produced over a longer time rame, starting earlier rom midwinter through to late spring.
Previous daphne varieties also have a reputation or growing into ungainly, awkward shrubs. The problem’s sorted by planting Daphne Perume Princess,
because in bloom or cloaked in green oliage, she has a very sensible bushy orm, roughly a metre square. Mounded, rounded, dense and lush –Daphne Perume Princess is a useul plant in the landscape all year around.
And finally or all those gardeners out there who can remember trying (and ailing) to save a ussy oldstyle daphne plant, relax. Daphne Perume Princess will move into her new home – pot or garden, ull sun to part shade – and rom that point on she’ll look ater hersel. She may be lovely, but know that she’s also tough and that’s because she’s been very well bred by the brilliant New Zealand plant breeder, Mark Jury.
For more information visit: https://tesselaar.com/plants/perfume-princess-daphne/
Seriously, have a look at the size of these flowers – Daphne Perfume Princess® produces a steady cover of these through the colder months
And when not in flower, this daphne is a great looking evergreen bush that you can depend on in the garden landscape.
Daphne Perfume Princess® also comes in pure white with all that gorgeous scent.
Despite global uncertainties, the Dutch garden centre sector is enjoying a period of healthy prosperity, partly attributed to the consumer trend for all things sustainable and the value placed on gardens and green spaces
In an annual snapshot provided by the country’s trade association, Tuinbranche Nederland, the 515 garden centres across The Netherlands recorded a turnover of €2.07bn in 2022, an increase of 3.1 per cent (€1.63 billion in 2019) even though consumer confidence indicators fell to their lowest since 2013. This was mainly sparked by Russia’s war against Ukraine and its knock-on effect of increasing the cost of living. Although fewer items were actually sold through centres during the year, higher prices did help to compensate.
Outdoor living products, such as barbeques, heaters, and furniture, continued to do well, recording sales up by 27 per cent to around €14mn. Accounting for more than half of Dutch garden centre turnover is plants, which, although down in 2022 to €300mn, was still more than the 2019 pre-pandemic..
60 MILLION CUSTOMERS EACH YEAR
The majority of centres (372) in The Netherlands are independently owned. The others are run by groups, with the top three being Intratuin, Groenrijk and Welkoop. Between them all, they attract around 60 million customers each year.
During the covid pandemic, shops and garden centres with a high percentage turnover of animal feeds were allowed to remain open. Still, they had to cordon off areas and could not sell from areas with plants and gardening accessories. As special dispensation was not given to trade, garden centres quickly set up online shops to keep customers supplied. “There was a big surge in online sales when centres were closed, but this is diminishing now because people still want to go to the garden centres for the atmosphere and the knowledge from the staff,” says Brenda Horstra, Deputy Director of Tuinbranche Nederland.
GREEN CLIMATE SQUARES
One area that has seen sales drop is hard landscaping and paving (-10 per cent), which could be done with a campaign run by Tuinbranche Nederland to encourage more households to get involved and understand the positive links between gardens and climate change.
Horstra explains that Green Climate Squares, dedicated areas within Tuinbranche Nederland member garden centres with displays and information showing how gardening can benefit
biodiversity and climate change, have been a huge success. There has also been a big buy-in with local municipalities, which have contributed funding. “Some have been opened by ministers, and one was opened by a commissioner of King Willem-Alexander, which shows how seriously Green Climate Squares are taken and how important they are considered to be,” says Horstra. There are Green Climate Squares in 60 Dutch garden centres, plus one in Belgium and another one will open in Milan soon. Ranging in size from 9m2 up to 30m2, their aim is to help people understand how they can use their gardens to solve water and heat stress issues and increase the amount of greenery. Suggestions include replacing hard landscaping for plants, bringing water into the garden, choosing plants which provide food and habitats for birds and insects and installing a green roof. These also tie in with an aim to increase green space across the whole of The Netherlands by 55km2 With 5.5 million gardens in The Netherlands, each measuring an average of 236m2, this means each one has to convert to green just 10m2. Horstra notes: “I think those people who are ‘dark green’ already know what to do in their gardens and know where to get a lot of information, but those that are ‘light green’ who have an idea and want to do something but don’t know what, come to the garden centre for advice.”
She adds that research by Tuinbranche Nederland has revealed that 67 per cent of consumers can do something positive in their garden about climate change. Still, actually, only 30 per cent are doing it. The campaign has led to other initiatives, including ‘Tile Out, Plant In’. Adopted on a municipality level, regions throughout The Netherlands are competing against each other to see who can lift the most paving and hard landscaping and replace them with plants.
Another called ‘Useful Soil Animals’ encourages children to learn about mammals, insects and invertebrates that live on or benefit the soil in some way.
This leads nicely on to sustainability, another area high on the agenda for the Dutch garden centre industry, its suppliers, and customers. The industry is currently working to adhere to International Corporate Responsibility legislation which, in future, will become mandatory in Europe. Suppliers will be obliged to understand the impact of their business on several areas, including the environment where, says Brenda, they will need to prove how clean their products are from sourcing through to packaging and recycling.
A reduction in the use of peat in growing media is also on the cards, with campaigns supported by the Dutch government to help suppliers find alternatives and educate gardeners about why they should not be using it. Horstra says: “Garden centres have to talk to the consumers on why it’s different.”
Restaurants and cafes in garden centres are proving to be a lucrative draw. “It’s very good to have one as it makes people stay a while, and it’s an important part of their turnover. It’s becoming more important, and if they don’t have one at the moment, they are getting one,” says Horstra.
One negative, however, and shared with many countries, is the difficulty in finding staff. “Getting good people is difficult,” says Brenda. “And it’s not just garden centres; it’s all retail.”
In 2022, the average Dutch customer spent €30 per visit to a garden centre.
However, Tuinbranche Nederland believes there is still room for growth, especially in the sectors of attracting wildlife to the garden and with products and ways of gardening that help mitigate the effects of climate change.
Scheduled to start on 2nd October, 2023, Expo 2023 Doha, Qatar will be unique in many ways. Held under the Theme “Green Desert, Better Environment”, this year’s Expo will launch the global call to fight desertification and join forces to ensure food security and access to water – particularly through technology and innovation.
1. Qatar will be the first Arab country to host an A1 World Horticultural Expo.
After the incredible FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Qatar is showing another facet of its development strategy to the world – this time, focused on sustainability and building a green future, even in the most arid of places.
2. Four key sub-themes will drive Expo content – Modern Agriculture,Technology & Innovation, Environmental Awareness and Sustainability. Inviting participants to highlight these sub-themes in their pavilions, Expo 2023 Doha will become a global platform for cooperation, seeking common solutions to the most pressing environmental challenges.
3. Expo 2023 Doha is committed to sustainability and will integrate it into its operations.
Using sustainable materials and 3D-printed biodegradable structures and running an efficient recycling policy while capitalising on the World Cup infrastructure, Expo 2023 Doha will demonstrate “sustainability by design” and aims to further elevate
sustainability standards for global events in the region and across the world.
4. Al Bidda Park will be the venue for Expo 2023 Doha.
Doha’s iconic park overlooks the azure waters of the Arabian Gulf. It is strategically located close to the historic part of the city, including the famous market Souq Waqif, Msheireb area that blends tradition with modernity, as well as the Museum of Islamic Art and the Harbour for Qatar’s traditional boats – dhows.
5. Expo 2023 Doha will offer concerts, entertainment, and culinary delights. Beyond being a large-scale horticulture and sustainability-focused event and a platform for highlevel cooperation in the sector, Expo 2023 Doha will also become a vibrant cultural and entertainment destination for all. Hosting concerts, performances, public talks and many F&B venues, Expo 2023 Doha will have amazing horticultural displays and will offer something for every visitor, from sustainability experts to families, kids, and foodies.
Chelsea Flower Show, held in England every year in May, is considered to be the trendsetting event for garden and landscape design. Producers of ornamental plants both exhibit at the show and are contracted to grow plants for the impressive show gardens. Palmstead Nurseries in Kent, UK, has grown plants for many events and shows, including the Olympics, and various RHS shows, including Hampton Court and Chelsea; with over 50 years of experience in supplying wholesale plants for trade, Palmstead Nurseries has also been involved with many other large scale city projects, including the regeneration of the gas works
at Kings Cross, The Barbican and many more.
Chelsea Flower Show is important to the nursery because it offers the chance to work with many inspirational figures, be part of a well-respected and massively important institution, and contribute to some innovative, imaginative, and ultimately sustainable concepts that can be brought out of the show and into people’s own gardens. It is this influence in shaping how gardens look and the plants that become popular that makes Chelsea Flower Show such an important event
PRODUCING PLANTS FOR MAJOR EVENTS HAS ITS CHALLENGES
Client expectation and the ability to meet or align with designers' creative vision is often the most challenging factor for Palmstead Nurseries. Working with living things and the weather can present great challenges, which, although outlined at the beginning of a project, can be an issue when the time comes to plant a show. This is particularly true for Chelsea Flower Show, which is open for one week only, and all plants are expected to be at their best.
Preparing in advance can reduce the pressure of delivering plants at their prime for major events. How far in advance before the event Palmstead Nurseries can prepare will depend on the project and the customer, and the time of year. Sometimes preparation starts up to a year in advance or more. Sometimes the lead times are short and do not allow for long-term preparation.
A new theme is developing for Chelsea Flower Show 2023. Responding to global concerns about biodiversity loss, attention is turning to the contribution of urban environments in providing space for nature. Conversations about rewilding cities and creating resilient landscapes include the choice of plants for gardens and how they are managed.
At present, Palmstead Nurseries have not really experienced a huge amount of change in plant palette/ choice in relation to climate change; however, it is inevitable that change will come. Currently, the nursery does look to promote more drought-tolerant plants and more UK-orientated planting. This is especially important when looking at biosecurity and temperature extremes like those experienced in the UK in 2022.
As city authorities consider their commitment to increasing trees and green space, attention turns to finding available space, and many cities find that a large percentage of green space belongs to private gardens. Of the 1.569km2 of Greater London, 24 per cent is private garden space, of which approximately 57 per cent is vegetated cover. The capacity of this private space to provide a habitat for nature may be enhanced by the judicious selection of plant species and combinations and how they are managed. These choices are influenced by the interaction between garden designers and growers, and Chelsea Flower Show is the stage upon which this interaction is played out.
In the experience of Palmstead Nurseries, most designers are well-informed and knowledgeable. The nursery does sometimes get asked for their advice, and their comments allow the designer to adapt their approach if required. How the 2023 theme of ‘wilder’ design at the Chelsea Flower Show will inspire behaviour change is of interest across disciplines. It may inform policy and practice in cities that promote the concept and the reality of urban rewilding.
Martin Deasy is a tutor on the RHS Mhort. He also runs his own landscape design business.
“Closely related to the smaller and better-known Sisyrinchium, Libertia is a useful and elegant genus of Southern Hemisphere perennials.
Although the plants most commonly encountered in the horticultural trade are those described as Libertia grandiflora, much material with this label is more likely to be a strain of the South American L. chilensis Formosa group (the true L. grandiflora, a New Zealand species, is less hardy, and less often seen).
The Chilean species is renowned for its early summer display of attractively open, clear white flowers with pale yellow anthers held on upright stems above the sword-shaped evergreen foliage.
Seed pods in late summer offer additional ornamental value. (Seed-raised plants exhibit a high degree of variability in flower size and inflorescence length, potentially offering interesting opportunities to the breeder.)
Plants eventually grow into substantial clumps exceeding 1m diameter and cope with partial shade, though they thrive best on open sites and well-drained soils, where they will prove hardiest and flower most prolifically. Although established plants are hardy in all but the coldest winters, foliage can brown and die back in periods of prolonged frost: plants can be refreshed by combing out the dead leaves and shearing back the clump in early spring.
In short, these are ideal city plants: robust, long-lived, adaptable and attractive. As a bonus, sharp crystals of calcium oxalate in the leaves render the foliage unpalatable to grazers and other pests. And their tendency to self-seed, but not aggressively, makes them an ideal component of dynamic, ecologicallybased planting schemes, such as Nigel Dunnett’s influential planting at London’s Barbican.
Libertia thrives there on a windy site well above street level, in shallow soil and without irrigation, providing structural and ornamental interest throughout the year, proof of its value as an urban landscape plant.”
Multiple award-winning and highly acclaimed within the global hardy nursery stock sector, Anthony Tesselaar’ and breeder Mark Jury’s new Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’ adds beauty, compactness and an exquisite fragrance to patios, balconies, and gardens while offering plant buyers something exciting in a category that long has been dormant
Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’ roots go back to 2013, was first released into the market in 2015 and has risen in prominence over the past decade to generate an estimated USA$5,000,000 in garden centre sales every year. Today, it is one of the fastest-selling of all Daphne varieties.
The new cultivar is produced on nearly every continent on the planet. Master growers include De Nolf Nurseries in Belgium, Kwekerij Ronald Roos in Boskoop NL, Batouwe Boomkwekerijen in Dodewaard NL, Boomkwekerij
OUT in Hazerswoude NL, Kerisnel and Rogalski in France, Ball Colegrave and Newey in the UK, Briggs Nursery, Everde, Matsudas Monrovia and Heritage Nurseries
in the USA, Humphris, Haars, Benara, Tasmania Plant Growers, Warners and Poplar Grove Nurseries in Australia and Thirkettle, Wallis and Ambrosia Nurseries in New Zealand.
Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’ is multiplied through tissue culture to ensure the cleanest of stock availability. Licensed propagators include Ireland-based Fitzgerald Nurseries for Europe, Briggs Nursery from Elma-Washington for the USA and Majestic Nursery for Australia.
Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’ success has many fathers, including renowned plant breeder Mark Jury from New Zealand - aka Mr Magnolia - and plant breeder’s agent Anthony
Tesselaar Plants from Australia. Both are visionary hortipreneurs, thinking far ahead before developing new ornamental plant varieties better adapted to growing conditions, societal changes, and trade/consumer preferences. Their partnership began in 1999 and has continued to blossom since, with Jury being one of Tesselaar’s important breeder partners. When asking themselves how to change the future of Daphnes and to determine their market potential, the pair must undoubtedly have considered the latest gardening trends and the news that gardens worldwide are getting smaller. Their new compact Daphne shrub helps modern homeowners to make the most of their green space.
Truth must be told; Tesselaar’s next generation of Daphnes really makes the difference. If you still think of Daphnes as being fuzzy, unreliable, leggy, and awkward-looking plants, Anthony Tesselaar thinks it’s high time to refresh your mind. He says, “The evergreen, low-growing Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’ stands 1.2 metres tall and has one metre in width. The shrub features a rounded growth habit and produces masses of delicately pale pink orsince 2021- white blooms in early spring or early winter, now that climate change seems to happen everywhere.”
The real attraction of this plant is the wonderful citrus-like fragrance produced by tiny clusters of tubular flowers on the branch tips. Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’ is a good choice for borders, but they also love a pot, as long as it’s large and deep enough. Tesselaar adds, “Like any Daphne, the key to successful growing is good drainage and airflow.”
The shrub can act as a stunning focal point and be grown as a
low, evergreen hedge, but it also makes a good green backdrop for other plants in summer. When in full bloom, it is a magnet for pollinating insects.
Tesselaar notes, “There are only two Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’, in pale pink or white, offering a progression of large blooms along the previous year’s stem, making it a perfect choice to bring cuttings indoors and enjoy the alluringly sweet perfume. It is an excellent performer with upright and slightly spreading attractive evergreen foliage. Positioned in the garden near a window, doorway or path, the sweet scent will add fragrance to home and garden.”
The genus of the shrub belongs to the Thymelaeaceae, a family of trees to perennial herbs or lianas, with 46–50 genera and 891 species. Arguably its most wellknown relative in the industry is Edgeworthia, whose tubular flowers exude a sweet fragrance similar to Daphne.
There are 70 species of Daphne, of which only a handful of species and hybrids are grown for gardening and landscaping purposes. It is safe to say that the plant category had long
Pressed plugs ensure faster and healthier root development.
been dormant, with established, lack-lustre varieties not precisely evoking excitement.
Tesselaar’s and Jury’s ‘princessly’ plant marked a new dawn for commercial nursery stock production. By crossing the exceptionally strong garden performer and more heat-loving Daphne bhuloa with the intensely fragrant and abundantly flowering Daphne odora, the Australian-New Zealand plant partnership succeeded in creating a wow factor in Daphnes.
A good dose of serendipity and luck was on their side. Anthony Tesselaar recalls, “It has taken us over a decade to develop, and at one stage, the seedlings were almost discarded. During trials, Mark Jury continued to focus on Magnolia breeding and the Daphne was left and forgotten in the nursery because nothing looked as though anything was worthwhile. A single plant out of all the seedlings was left to its own devices and rolled around the grounds for a number of years without any care or thought. Mark rediscovered this single and planted it out in the garden, and it really took off and amazed him with all the different attributes.”
Daphne Perfume Princess is literally a prized plant winning prestigious accolades since its inception. In 2016, the shrub scooped up the Australian Nursery and Garden Industry Association’s Plant of the Year Award. One year later, it won the UK’s Horticulture Week Best New Ornamental Plant Variety and the Gold Medal at Belgium’s premier horticultural trade show Florall. Meanwhile, the award-winning variety has not gone unnoticed by plant influencers. Michael Perry, aka Mr Plant Geek, says: “This is one of the most important shrub introductions for many years; this unique hybrid has brought Daphne to a new level. ‘Perfume Princess’ produces tough plants, and each stem is literally dripping with potent blooms through spring. No wonder they often call Daphne the most fragrant shrub in the world.”
GLOBALG.A.P.’s Dr Kristian Moeller discusses the merits of the organisation’s new Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) revised standard –Version 6, which becomes mandatory on January 2024.
The floriculture industry has never had a more important role to play. This is because, notes Moeller, “it is bringing joy into some of the darkness and sadness in a world that is in a state of ‘poly-crisis.’”
Arguably, during challenging times, any culture – be it floriculture, the performing arts, visual arts, music and the like – lifts the spirits of and inspires humankind.
But Moeller reminds us of the common argument that the resources spent on cultural activity should or could instead be used to help address the world’s challenges, such as food security.
With the sensitivity of this argument in mind, the floriculture sector – asserts Moeller – has a greater responsibility to use the world’s limited resources as efficiently and sustainably as possible. It also has a duty to do its utmost to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its labour force/workers.
He asserts: “Producing plants for the
floriculture market is a profession requiring professional work. And professional work is responsible work. So, that is why we call it responsible farming.”
Helpfully, GLOBALG.A.P.’s new Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) revised standard – Version 6 – demonstrates that a producer is practising this type of responsible farming. With a fresh focus on sustainability, it incorporates, for example, the health and safety of workers and the controlling and monitoring of energy, water, plant protection products, and fertilisers (nitrogen and phosphorous). Moeller says: “What I think is very much appreciated by the industry is that IFA Version 6 for the floriculture sector is much more streamlined.”
IFA Version 6 has also been simplified so that it’s easier for smaller growers to adopt.
“We want to offer a feasible solution to smallholders to help grow the market. For some smaller growers, the older IFA standards contained elements – such as too much documentation – that were perhaps overwhelming for them to deal with. The new IFA, therefore, utilises simple, effective tools and is outcomebased.”
Moeller notes that another useful aspect of the new IFA standard is the way in which it has been designed to help growers better identify those sustainability practices they need to focus on the most.
“You’ve got to create your sustainability profile and then see what is best for your business. For example, if you are located near, or in, a nature reserve, then biodiversity may be a priority for you – whilst if you are growing in an arid climate, then the water use may be more of an issue.”
“That’s the beauty of the new standard – it’s more customised.”
Also helping floriculture businesses attain and measure their sustainability goals is GLOBALG.A.P.’s Impact-Driven Approach (IDA) sustainability module. Launched in 2020, the IDA is a system that helps flower and ornamentals farms collect, process, and store their environmental sustainability data. The module builds on the IFA standard as an add-on but can also be a smaller, independent standard on its own or in combination with a different farm assurance scheme.
It sees growers collect (and then submit) input consumption data that are then sent to GLOBALG.A.P. for processing.
The data are returned to growers in the form of trend graphs and comparison reports.
If they choose to, producers can then compare their input consumption data against similar growers (according to region, crop, and growing conditions). Ultimately, this helps them to improve their farming efficiency and, therefore, their environmental credentials. Retailers want to see, for example, that
their suppliers are using pesticides responsibly or optimising their water use.
Since rolling out the IDA, Moeller acknowledges that the GLOBALG.A.P. team has had to work on building up the trust of growers who may be nervous about sharing their farms’ data.
“We are not reselling the data – their use is for protecting the industry. So, firstly we have to gain the trust of growers, and secondly, we have to make the data meaningful.
"And we also need some time to observe any trends and overall behaviours.”
“So, it's a behavioural change that becomes a normal part of doing business. Hopefully, growers will become accustomed to making collecting and submitting data part of their routine.”
Moeller also acknowledges the importance of conveying a positive message to consumers through GLOBALG.A.P.’s consumer label – the GGN label.
Launched in 2018, some 400 companies are already using it, and Moeller hopes it will continue to gain traction. Moeller explains: “The idea is that, in future, we will help transfer to the floriculture industry some of the positive feelings people experience when they recognise a food assurance scheme label.
"When they see the label, they know it’s a product they can trust. We need to bring the entire floriculture industry to that level.”
He adds that growers will also gain recognition from the label and the wider GLOBALG.A.P. certification.
“As a grower, you are accountable for what you do for your business, environment, workers, and the next generation. And that type of understanding leads, of course, to recognition and the recognition of farmers.”
CONTACT
GLOBALG.A.P. c/o, FoodPLUS GmbH
Spichernstr. 55, 50672 Cologne, Germany
T. +49 57776-0; www.globalgap.org
France’s Sival show connects professionals from the protected cropping industry, the arable sector, viticulture, oenology, arboriculture, and seed industry with companies providing cutting-edge machinery, technology, equipment, plant breeding and services. Its presence in ornamental horticulture is growing.
Retour en force’ for the 36th edition of France’s premier ‘commercial plant cultivation’ show which saw a record attendance of 25,000 industry professionals. The show happened at the Parc des Expositions convention centre in Angers between 16-18 January 2023.
The trade exhibition hosted 703 exhibitors from home and abroad, from seed to flower and plant breeding companies, greenhouse builders, horticultural engineering and lighting companies, business consultants to specialist machinery manufacturers and
dealers, winery equipment suppliers, agronomists, brand and packaging specialists, and professional service providers. Alongside all of this, Sival offered a full itinerary of top-notch conferences and workshops.
At this year’s show, the spotlight was overwhelmingly on robotics/automation and sustainable agriculture, including related topics such as energy saving, smart water management, biocontrols and the use of biobased and circular pots, containers, and packaging. With many plant cultivation professionals from various agricultural and horticultural sub-sectors under one
roof, Sival gauges the annual progress made by each sector. At the same time, it also provides an unrivalled opportunity to see if the ‘grass is greener’ on the other side of the agricultural and horticultural spectrum. Suffice to say that attendees had no difficulty filling their schedules.
THE MINISTER’S UNWAVERING SUPPORT
French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau officially opened the show, showing his unwavering support for a sector in rocky waters. First was the massive disruption caused by Covid-19; what followed next was an unprecedented drought that continues today.
The extreme drought left aside, France has a good climate growing fruits and vegetables; it’s mostly temperate, benign, and rarely extreme. Yet, the Hexagone is growing less and less, with
self-sufficiency levels in fruits and vegetables in a continuous fall. Today, the country produces only half of the fresh produce it needs.
At the gargantuan Salon International de l’Agriculture held in Paris between 25 February and 5 March 2023, the Minister revealed his Souveraineté Fruits&Légumes (Self-Sufficiency in Fruits and Vegetables) plan to reduce dependency on food imports, increase the sector’s productivity by adopting good agricultural practices, modernise the country’s greenhouse clusters, and make agriculture and horticulture carbon neutral.
The minister announced hundreds of millions worth of sustainable agricultural research projects aimed at improving a robust, resilient, climateproof food and agricultural system. This programme is made under France’s Rural Development funding scheme
CASDAR which provides money to improve agriculture, address biodiversity and labour challenges and promote land stewardship to correct climate change impacts in agriculture and horticulture.
Protected cropping has been popular in the Netherlands for years, but official figures show how demand is taking off in France too.
A 2020 study by the agricultural statistics office Agreste found that the area of protected fresh produce in France is 10,500ha of glasshouses and poly-hooped greenhouses, of which 1,400ha are heated and primarily used for cucumbers and tomatoes. According to Agreste, there are 9,100ha non-heated polytunnels for growing, for example, melons and salad. In comparison: in 2010, the ‘under-cover production’ was only 7,430ha.
Valhor’s 2021 extensive market study, Observatoire des données structurelles des entreprises de l’horticulture et de la pepinière, indicates that the area of protected ornamental crops in France is 2,244ha glasshouses and poly-roofed tunnels of which 30 per cent are heated, and 34 per cent are under anti-hail netting. This segment of the industry also comprises 28 per cent non-heated polytunnels. ‘Heated ornamentals’ include houseplants, bedding plants (66 per cent) and cut flowers (14 per cent), with production geographically concentrated in the Loire Valley, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) and Auvergne- Rhone Alpes (ARA).
Naturally, the massive rise in gas prices, sparked partly by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, makes it harder for French greenhouse growers because they need to heat their greenhouses.
“In France, 80 per cent of fresh produce companies use natural gas, 70 per cent have a co-generation plant, 12,2 per cent use biomass, 6.8 per cent residual heat, and one per cent heats greenhouses with propane. The largest input costs for growers used to be labour, followed by energy. Now it is energy followed by labour,” says Ariane Grisey, an energy expert working for CTIFL’s research centre for fruits and vegetables and one of the keynote speakers at Sival’s ‘Optimising energy consumption in greenhouse crops’ conference.
Anne Laure Laroche, a researcher at Astredhor, added, “Energy sources used in French ornamental horticulture include natural gas (25 per cent), oil (10 per cent), biomass (two per cent) and propane (four per cent) with a quarter of all companies (45 per cent of total production area) using a mix of energy sources including coal (!).
Regarding energy consumption in ornamental horticulture, Laroche says there are three types of businesses: It can be a greenhouse that primarily serves to keep the frost outside (8°C) with an energy consumption between 20-30kWh/m2, it can be a moderate greenhouse (8°C-15°C) using between 75-100kwH/m2, or it can be a hothouse (>15°C) with an energy use between 200250kWh/m2.
Business consultant and industry veteran Brand Wagenaar elaborates, “Between March 2022 and March 2023, the median price for horticultural consumers increased substantially. At the same time, other commodity prices, including peat, plastics, fertiliser, and pesticides, have been surging across the board by an average of 20 per cent. Young plants (+10 per cent), logistics (+12 per cent) and labour costs (+8 per cent) are all on the rise. The grower has two options; passing the rapidly rising costs on to his customer by raising prices or refraining from any price adjustments, which means cutting their margins. Between 2019-2021, 281 companies went out of business, resulting in 866 fewer jobs and a decreased production area of 1,000ha. Today, there are 2,760 horticultural businesses left in France. Due to the energy crisis, growers lower the heating in greenhouses, leading to lower production output. Scaling down production, in general, is another option, or turning towards seasonal production to use lower energy prices in summer.
However, a survey by France’s leading horticultural media outlet Le Lien Horticole found that contrary to the Netherlands, only a handful of French growers are completely shutting down in response to the cost increase. And if so, they cite personal circumstances such as retirement as the main reason. Wagenaar says, “SMEs are the backbone of French ornamental horticulture, and it’s amazing to see the amount of business confidence, stability, and resilience despite the past three years full of economic and geopolitical
uncertainties. And there is still room for slow but steady growth.”
Yet, crippling energy costs cause a headache for the greenhouse industry, with hortipreneurs proactively pushing for energy efficiency. Grisey notes, “We calculated electricity efficiency in truss tomato growing - kWh/kg tomato- which positively evolved from eight in 2007 to 5.7 in 2021. But there is much to win. Among the quick wins are leaving some greenhouse compartments empty, lowering light use and pipe temperature, and leaving energy screens closed more frequently.”
Moreover, preventive maintenance of the entire installation and proper peak load management are also methods to reduce energy use. Grisey says: “Regarding the greenhouse’s cladding, polycarbonate panels and thermal insulating sandwich panels improve the
structure’s heat retention with up to five per cent energy savings. A single, double, or triple screen is more energy efficient, leading to 20, 30 and 40 energy savings, respectively.”
Innovation in screening is making a difference with all eyes on the magic formula or the heat transfer coefficient. The lower the coefficient, the better the material insulates. In two-curtain systems, we see a coefficient of 2.4. In comparison: the heat transfer coefficient of glass is six,” explains Grisey, adding that a range of energy-saving actions, including energy screens in horticulture, are eligible for the French Energy Economy Certificates (Certificats d’Economie d’Energie (CEE), a grant scheme under which energy suppliers encourage their customers to install energy efficient improvements and subsequently redeem vouchers to cover up the cost of chosen improvements.
Keeping the screens closed for longer may reduce energy costs but need a change of approach to other aspects of climate control, notably humidity. Grisey explains, “Humidity control makes up 20 to 30 per cent of the energy bill. But dehumidification is necessary when insulating greenhouses with grower using ventilation, condensation, or desiccant dehumidification.”
Brittany is blessed with a benign maritime climate and many hours of sunshine, which fuels growth in French greenhouse horticulture. Its Finistère department hosts the largest concentration of heated tomato and cucumber greenhouses in France, spanning 277ha.
Interestingly, several greenhouse complexes have emerged in nontraditional horticultural heartlands such as Gironde (Lapouyade), Haute-Garonne (Bessières), Corrèze, and Nord-Pasde-Calais (Arques). Some of these businesses are opportunely located near municipal landfills. The natural gas created, thereby decomposing trash and other organic waste, serves to heat the greenhouses.
The brainchild of several Dutch greenhouse manufacturers, the ‘semiclosed’ greenhouse offers savings in energy – mainly because of their approach to ventilation – and water use. In the latest generation of semi-closed greenhouses, the fan and duct system take care of more of the ventilation requirements, so the vents and energy screens stay closed longer, retaining more heat. The air treatment units include heat exchangers to recapture heat as the air is dehumidified, while summer heat surpluses are stored in an underground aquifer. Overall energy savings of up to 30 to 40 per cent are claimed.
According to Grisey, France’s contingent of semi-closed greenhouses spans 100ha, a figure that greenhouse builder Horconex dares to question. “We believe that figure is much lower. Semiclosed greenhouses mainly emerged in Southern France, where temperatures in summer and insect pressure (whitefly) are high. Some Brittany-based growers built semi-closed greenhouses that did not meet their expectations. They will undoubtedly opt for a more conventional greenhouse when considering future
expansion,” says Horconex director Vincent Kuijvenhoven.
Founded in 1972 by Cees van Uffelen, Horconex is a leading developer and manufacturer of complete, high-tech greenhouse projects predominantly in France, Switzerland, and Germany. The company operates from its headquarters in Poeldijk and three French subsidiaries in Brest, Nantes, and Monteux.
Over the past decades, Horconex has built an estimated 700ha of new greenhouses in France using a Boal roof. New structures are ultra-modern but lack the quintessentially French ‘Grandeur’. Kuijvenhoven elaborates, “Greenhouse horticulture in France is dominated by family-run businesses which tend to expand and replace structures every ten years gradually and cautiously. Meanwhile, French horticulturists are dedicated followers of the latest greenhouse technology and ready to adopt their existing structures so they can implement it.”
The French, for example, has been one of the first growers to embrace the Activenlo greenhouse, designed to proactively dehumidify the air, bringing important energy cost savings of up to 20 per cent. Activenlo is also the answer to high humidity levels under a double energy screen, and its principle continues to be widely used in France. Solar Venlo serves a different segment of the market, dominated by largescale, specialised companies that build greenhouses for farmers who can only grow a limited number of crops under these structures. The tendency in French greenhouse buildings is to use glass. Kuijvenhoven says: “Glass is a more sustainable material and allows for greenhouse cropping according to the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) principle.”
As seen over the past years, the uplift in greenhouse demand has been driven by increased consumer demand for homegrown vegetables and flowers. More recently, there’s been a slump in demand for new greenhouses. Kuijvenhoven notes, “General demand is sluggish, with only a few projects scheduled for this year. There’s global uncertainty, fuelled by skyrocketing commodity prices, including energy. As such, French greenhouse growers rush to reduce energy use. Surging
French horticulturists find themselves in increasingly iniquitous positions of taking the biggest risk, often acting as a buffer from the retailer against economic headwinds, particularly now that retail chains are growing bigger and bigger. For example, the In Vivo Buying group includes Jardiland, Gamm Vert, and Delbard.
The biggest takeaway from the Garden Trends Collection Days, held in Marseille’s Parc Chanot by the end of March 2023 and bringing together all industry stakeholders, was the weakening market in 2022, particularly when compared to the record year 2021. Garden centre sales dropped by six to eight per cent depending on product categories.
Market analysts, however, quickly recall how growers received considerable retail price increases in 2020 and 2021 and that growth is still possible. In linear terms, the garden retail market grew by 4 per cent in 2022, which is still a great performance, notes industry body Promojardin.
There’s no doubt that French consumers are worried about global geopolitical tensions and the rising cost of living. Still, the severe drought is putting off most French gardeners. Despite the rain in March, water bodies are far from sufficiently filled, and there’s little moisture deeper underground. This situation is currently one of the biggest headaches in the French garden market.
Recent Kantar consumer research commissioned by industry bodies Valhor and FranceAgrimer uncovered that in 2022 garden retail sales dropped 11 per cent in value and 14 per cent in volumes sold. At the pandemic’s start, people rushed to decorate their homes and plant their outdoor spaces, but this habit did not stick.
In 2022, the garden plants, trees and shrubs categories suffered the most in value and volume, whereas it was the most dynamic market in 2021. Even though 2022 marked the lifting of most health restrictions, houseplant sales decreased in value and volume that same year.
The country’s four primary horticulture sales outlets, including florists, garden centres /farm shops, supermarkets and family-owned plant nurseries, reported declining value and volume.
Part of the annual Sival show is the award ceremony for the most innovative products. Awards are handed out in seven categories: varietal innovation, production tools, machinery and automation, production solutions, presentation and marketing, services and software, and collective approach.
Among the Medal winners whose innovations offer interesting solutions for the ornamentals sector are Sumi Agro France, the French branch of the globally acting Sumitomo Group (883 group companies, 75,000 employees, net income USD3.8 billion), which was founded in Osaka in 1919 and has its headquarters in Tokyo today
The company’s silver award-winning Nurspray is a registered biostimulant designed to activate the plants’ natural mechanisms of tolerance to water stress. The product is based on a new signal molecule discovered and developed by the startup Fyteko. The product is in the initial marketing phase in France.
The active molecule in Nurspray® is derived from hydroxycinnamic acids naturally present in plant cell walls. It is obtained through a unique green chemistry process. A whole series of genes regulated by the application of Nurspray® were identified and grouped into three functional categories: genes linked with managing water stress, with osmotic pressure, and with transmitting information. Following this analysis, research work focused on the metabolic pathway of proline. This amino acid plays a significant role in osmoprotectant, demonstrating that Nurspray® could modulate proline production. Foliar application of the product induces an overproduction of proline because the signal molecule sends the plant the message that it is in a state of stress. In the absence of natural stress, this proline is recycled by the plant, and when stress occurs, the plant will naturally start to overproduce proline more rapidly and intensively. Thanks to Nurspray®, the plant remembers this means of defence and can trigger it in the event of stress, which it then withstands more effectively. The effects of Nurspray® on crops mean better use of available water, greater resilience to water stress and better post-stress recovery.
Also scooping up a silver award at Sival was PATS-C, an innovative device equipped with an infrared camera that records the flight movements of noctuids (moths) over an area of 100 m², representative of the pests’ activity in a one-hectare shelter. This new tool, consisting of two boxes that are easy to install and move around, thanks to their cable ties, detects the first flight of the moth pests and visualises the development of their population in vegetable, ornamental and fruit crops.
PATS-C is the brainchild of Pats Indoor Drone Solutions from Delft, the Netherlands and is distributed in France by Biobest.
STORIES ON FCI NEWS:
• Biobest and PATS join forces in data-driven crop protection by scouting moths with cameras
• Two Dutch start-ups win GreenTech Americas' Smart Sustainable AgTech Challenge
Ron van der Helm and Johanna Croissant of Force Group France, a greenhouse demolition and restructuring company with roots in the Netherlands. With a 25-year track record in greenhouse demolition and business partner Barry de Bruin, Van der Helm acquired Force Greenhouse Demolition BV and Force Renovatiesloop BV from Jan Olsthoorn in January 2022. A few months later, Ron and Barry opened their French branch, Force Groupe France SAS, in La Pommeraye (Maine-etLoire). French customers praise the company’s autonomy in the workplace, robust, adequately staffed team, respect for timelines, competitive prices, and human approach.
costs drive demand for Horconex’s greenhouse rooftop solar, adjustments in thermal screens and optimising heating installations. The impact of the CEE and France Agrimer schemes is massive regarding energy-saving investments such as energy screens and more energy crisis-proof heating installations. But these schemes are quickly running out of money.”
Commenting on the future of the country’s greenhouse horticulture Kuijvenhoven says, “True to tradition, cooperatives have a strong presence in the market. As a result, investors may find it difficult to realise large-scale projects. I anticipate existing companies will do the biggest chunk of business expansion. There are examples of several family businesses joining forces to set up a new greenhouse company, still under the flag of the cooperative. Moreover, government regulation regarding the construction of new greenhouses gets increasingly stricter, a major obstacle to efficiently building them. France is a prime example of a country concerned with homegrown industry and food security. High-tech greenhouses are a tool to reach these objectives, but only step by step.”
Whether the greenhouse is conventional
or semi-closed, climate control depends on input from various sensors. But the environmental and crop growth data these sensors generate can do more than drive the climate control computer. “Analysed and presented in the right way, the data can help growers, and their investors make more informed decisions in LED lighting,” said Louis Golaz, CEO of Red Horticulture, an award-winning French designer, manufacturer and supplier of LED lighting solutions for greenhouse horticulture.
The company is a self-acclaimed ‘master in photobiology’, studying the interactions of light with greenhouse crops to understand their requirements better and apply the perfect LED light recipe.
Red Horticulture sustains that there is no universal and fixed lighting recipe. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously combine LED light intensity management and LED light spectrum management to maximise production using the proper light levels and quality at the right time.
At the core of Red Horticulture’s dynamic LED lighting strategy are its scalable Taurus fixtures in 300W or 600W for total control of spectrum and intensity. The Taurus fixtures connect with Red Horticulture’s Solstice data management system. This system gathers climatic information (temperature, humidity, pressure, CO2) collected by greenhouse sensors and interprets it to give an overall picture of what’s happening in the crop.
The optional MyRed feature maximises profits by using dimmable LEDs in tandem with the amount of natural sunlight available and the producer’s energy contract (off-peak/ peak hours/ or daily rate).
Red Horticulture’s LED lighting technology has been extensively trialled in France and abroad.
Vegetable transplant grower Thomas Plants from Brittany says, “Their LEDs enabled us to produce greenhouse tomato transplants in November with a comparable quality of transplants produced in Spring”.
Building on the success of its initial 1,000m2 trial, Thomas Plants is now ready to expand its production area under Red Horticulture LEDs to 4,000m2 , and its CEO Nicolas Paul explains why, “HPS technology has reached a fairly mature life cycle and will need to be
renewed in the coming years."
The company’s production manager Jérôme Crenn sees room for improvement when swopping HPS for controllable LEDs. “In 2018, when we first met Red Horticulture, our knowledge about horticultural LED was generic. There was a feeling that the existing systems were not adapted to the needs of plant growers. RED offered a genuinely innovative concept regarding wavelengths adapted to the plant."
Golaz adds, “In young plant production, there are different stages: sowing, post-grafting, transplanting. The plant has different light requirements at each stage, hence the interest in controllable lighting with a portfolio of different light recipes.”
Thomas Plants group has installed TAURUS 600 above its crop and controls it by Solstice. Ten light recipes have been identified and implemented thanks to a joint literature review by RED and Thomas Plants. Jérôme Crenn explains: “For example, we have a recipe that aims to improve seed germination and another that is perfect for post-grafting recovery.”
While most ag tech focuses on inputs and processes, Maxime Dedecker from 2Grow says little was telling the grower what was happening with the most important part of the greenhouse — the plants.
2Grow and Phyto-IT, an offspring of the university of Ghent University, showcased their PhytoStem plant monitoring system, processing plant electrical signals to diagnose crop stress before visual symptoms manifest. Bio-sensors attached to the plant stem record and analyse electrical signals emitted by the plants to quickly detect their responses to changes in their environment.
PhytoStem’s sap flow measurement is vital for quantifying plant water. The device allows measuring sap flow and stem diameter variations of plants with stem diameters ranging from eight to 19 mm. The sensors demonstrate how plants respond to environmental changes (irrigation, lighting, temperature changes) or plant manipulation (pruning, harvesting). The system suits herbaceous (tomato, cucumber, capsicum) or woody (grapevine) stems. In ornamental
horticulture, the system has been trialled by Vireo Plants, Gediflora and Beekenkamp.
More insight into a plant’s sap flow can help make water and crop management more efficient, particularly under unpredictable rainfall patterns and water scarcity resulting from climate change. In addition to detecting sick plants, sap flow measurement assists in selecting drought-resistant conditions. Multiple methods exist to measure sap flow, including heat balance, dyes and radiolabelled tracers. Heat sensor-based techniques are the most popular and commercially available to study plant hydraulics.
In biobased pots, Fertil from the Alsace region showcased its extensive range of wood fibre biodegradable Fertilpots, available in rounded and square shapes and different sizes, all with a remarkably natural terracotta look.
Pine forest (Abies and Picea) thinning to improve forest health in the nearby Vosges Mountains range provides
woody biomass for the Fertil pot’s manufacturing process that does not incorporate glues or binders. Fertilpots are biodegradable and intended to be planted directly in the ground or the next larger container. Unlike rice-hull pots, starch-based polymers, and ‘biodegradable’ plastics, Fertilpots do not require a composting situation to degrade. The biggest chunk (two-thirds) of Fertil pots sell to hobby gardeners. In contrast, the share of retail customers pushed by an increasingly eco-conscious consumer- is increasing. However, the price (Fertilpots are three times more expensive than the conventional plastic pot) is still an obstacle.
That is, until now. Occupying pride of place at Sival was the Fertilpot NT, which can be used in machinery like traditional plastic pots. Also, its improved geometric design allows for an easier restacking of the pots. Because water, air, and roots penetrate the walls of the Fertilpot easily, there is no need for drainage holes. The natural root structure that develops helps to ensure a successful transplant.
Commenting on the current state of the French gardening industry four months after her company exhibited at Sival, Graines Voltz’s marketing and communications manager, Mireille Prompt-Rucart, says, “Energy costs spiked less than the industry warned of last autumn. The current picture suggests that the price increase is less impactful for consumers than expected. However, in the light of persistent inflation, a tense social climate, and the first alarm raised over drought in large
parts of the country it is likely that consumers will shop more prudently rather than spend more on flowers and plants this spring.”
Since the autumn of 2022, PromptRucart has seen how the company’s customer base has become more cautious and choosier, with customers slightly moving the delivery of products to a later time, enabling them to heat less and during a shorter period. In the bedding plant category, seed and young plant sales dropped five to ten per cent. Prompt-Rucart says that within the ornamentals industry, there’s an undeniable trend toward less energyintensive crops that take less water and are drought resistant. Meanwhile, the anti-peat debate, as seen and heard in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, has not gone unnoticed. “In close collaboration with our suppliers, we are currently trialling products and growing techniques to become less dependent on peat and ultimately be able to sell our young plants in a peat-free substrate.”
For the second consecutive year, Graines Voltz will be present at the FlowerTrials (13-16 June 2023), and the company is looking forward to this event – a time for catching up with clients whilst showing brand new and well-known products and marketing concepts. “For the occasion, we will once again team up with Florensis at their location in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, where we will display our portfolio next to PanAmerican Seed. Our presentation will focus on our extensive product range suited for Mediterranean, maritime, and continental climates. The spotlight will be on a thornless yellow raspberry named Abundance Spineless Yellow in the gourmet fruits category. But our new series of mildew-resistant Honeycomb tomatoes will also be vying for attention.
At home in France, Prompt-Rucart thinks the Sival trade show is going from strength to strength. “For Voltz Horticulture, the show is essential to growing our kitchen garden plant and herb business which frequently are grown next to ornamentals. So, therefore, our Sival stand displays plants in both categories. Sival’s biggest strength, however, is its focus on horti and agtech and the cross-pollination between the different sub-sectors of agriculture. That’s something the organisers must be proud of and
cherish. Our biggest takeaway from this year’s Sival show has been the upbeat mood, the strong interest of professionals in our product range, and the readiness to innovate even in economically trying times marked by geopolitical tensions.”
With the presence of Graines Voltz, Beekenkamp, Selecta and more, Sival already hosts several flower and plant breeding and propagation companies. But there’s room to expand its offer in ornamental horticulture.
Sival’s timing is perfect. January marks the end of the holidays fuelling the entrepreneurial spirit with a stronger-than-usual drive to restart business with a sharper focus. With the Parc des Expositions in Angers, Sival has an excellent permanent showground with good access to major roads and public transport. Plus, Sival’s programme many pre-screened international buyers to the trade shows.
Anyone with a track record in ornamental horticulture knows that as soon as an annual trade show changes its format and moves to a biennial event, as France’s iconic trade show Salon du Végétal did last year, will automatically cause a drop in attendance. As such, it would be could if Sival and Salon du Végétal could join forces to organise both events under one roof in January.
One major challenge for Sival will be expanding an already crowded show floor. Adding space by building even more temporary, not easy to navigate, tent structures is perhaps not the best solution.
In 2024, Sival will take place between 16-18 January 2024. For more information: www. sival-angers.com Next year will also mark the inaugural edition of Sival Senegal.
Are you ready to find solutions to major challenges in horticulture? Discover all about robotics and AI, plant compounds such as medicinal cannabis and leafy greens, vertical farming, the newest startups, and many more at GreenTech Amsterdam.
GreenTech Amsterdam will take place on 13, 14 and 15 June at the Amsterdam RAI convention centre. This International Horticultural Trade Expo is in its eighth edition and it will celebrate horticulture’s thriving tech scene under one roof. Approved by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) this year’s GreenTech Amsterdam will include everything tech: from artificial intelligence to robotics, 3D crop modelling, and adaptive greenhouse design.
Highlighted Topics
• ‘Fossil free cultivation concepts; the road to a zero footprint greenhouse’
• ‘Challenges and opportunities to move Vertical Farming forward’
• ‘Collecting data, how much is enough?’
• 'Cultivation planning with algorithms’
• ‘Leafy, lettuce and hers greenhouse culture’
• ‘How robots are conquering horticulture’
•'Optimal use of limited CO2 in the production process'
• ‘Plant Compounds: Cannabis Innovations’
Grow your knowledge and network
Update your knowledge during inspiring talks. Learn from market leaders, innovators, and experts.
Discover and experience innovations
Discover new products, services and complete
solutions that will tackle today’s and tomorrow’s horticulture challenges.
Find solutions to major challenges
GreenTech puts a spotlight on medicinal cannabis, robotics and AI in greenhouses, precision horticulture, organic, biological and vertical farming, climate control, water and energy solutions and much more!
Putting a spotlight on horticulture innovation
The GreenTech Innovation Awards will celebrate the innovators and technologies in the horticulture industry. An expert jury will assess every entry. The winners in the categories ‘Innovation’ and ‘Concept’ will be revealed during the official opening of GreenTech Amsterdam on Tuesday, 13 June.
For information, visit www.greentech.nl/amsterdam
AIPH approved 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo gets the green light from Korea’s President and welcomes 150,000 visitors on its first day, with its theme ‘We Live In The Garden’
We Live In The Garden’ is the South Korean's International Horticultural Expo’s theme, and the city of Suncheonman's ambition is to celebrate garden culture and promote climate change actions for six months.
This second edition of the Suncheon Garden Expo builds upon the National Garden legacy of the 2013 Expo. During the ten years, this site has become an ecological tourist attraction. Now, the 2023 Expo Park builds on this good work. It is twice as big, spanning an area of 193 hectares.
This second edition of the Suncheon Garden Expo builds upon the National Garden legacy of the 2013 Expo. During the ten years, this site has become an ecological tourist attraction. Now, the 2023 Expo Park builds on this good
work. It is twice as big, spanning an area of 193 hectares.
Along with local leaders, AIPH President Leonardo Capitanio and Secretary General Tim Briercliffe cut the ribbon for this Category B AIPH-Approved International Horticultural Expo’s official opening on 1 April, welcoming 150,000 visitors on its opening day to experience the Expo’s celebration of green plants and colourful flowers.
In his speech, Mr Capitanio said: “It is clear to see how your city has transformed into a living example of a Green City. Not only have you put your efforts into restoring and creating beautiful wetland habitats, but you have made horticulture and gardening a core feature of life for every citizen of Suncheon. This means you have every right to run this Expo with the theme of ‘We Live In The Garden’.”
The Expo site boasts more than 2.5 million plants from 120 newly planted or existing flower species. Participating countries will showcase their gardens and hold cultural and traditional performances during their National Day events.
In the days leading up to the Expo’s opening, an international AIPH jury judged the participating gardens not just for the planting schemes but whether they were delivering the Expo’s future-focused message.
AIPH Secretary General, Tim Briercliffe, commented: “The gardens at this Expo will inspire everyone to re-think where and how they live and how living in the garden is something that can be good for all. He added: “With 150,000 visitors on the Expo’s first day, they are well on track to meet their target of 8 million visitors.”
MAY 2023
1-2. NETHERLANDS
Groen-Direkt High Season Days www.groen-direkt.nl
10-11. CHINA
China International Floriculture and Horticulture Trade Fair/ Flower Expo Asia at the Guangzhou International Sourcing Centre Complex. www.flowerexpochina.com
14-17. NETHERLANDS
VII International Conference
Postharvest Unlimited & XII International Symposium on Postharvest Quality of Ornamental Plants taking place at the Omnia Dialogue Centre of Wageningen University & Research. www.wur.nl
22-23. NETHERLANDS
Groen-Direkt Mid Season Days www.groen-direkt.nl
24-28. UNITED KINGDOM
RHS Chelsea Flower Show.. www.rhs.org.uk
JUNE 2023
2-4. ITALY
Leverano in Fiore, a three-day flower festival in Leverano (Puglia) with the support of the Mercato dei Fiori Leverano. www.leveranoinfiore.it
6-7. BELGIUM
Biopesticides Europe in Brussels, bringing together key industry stakeholders, researchers and representatives from regulatory bodies to discuss current challenges and future opportunities within the industry. www.wplgroup. com/aci/event/biopesticideseurope/
6-8. KENYA
Iftex at Nairobi’s Oshwal Centre. www.hppexhibitions.com
6-9. NETHERLANDS
Dutch Lily Days www.dutchlilydays.nl
7-16. NETHERLANDS
Dutch Orchid Inspiration Days. www.orchidinspirationdays.com
Kenya’s premier flower trade show Iftex will return to the Oshwal convention centre in Nairobi, Kenya, between 6-8 June 2023.
According to show organiser HPP, the 10th edition of Iftex will host a record 150 exhibitors from home and abroad and a strong contingent of pre-registered international buyers. The 2023 edition of Iftex will welcome a strong contingent of first-time exhibitors, among which several small and medium-sized enterprises market their cut flowers through brokers instead of exporting them directly.
13-15. NETHERLANDS
GreenTech at RAI Amsterdam. www.greentech.nl
13-16. NETHERLANDS
Flowertrials, open house event for the pot and bedding plant industry. www.flowertrials.com
18-20. GERMANY
Spoga+gafa 2023 at Messe Cologne. www.spogagafa.com
20-21. UNITED KINGDOM
HTA National Plant Show. www.nationalplantshow.co.uk
JULY 2023
2-5. ITALY
XXVII International Eucarpia Symposium Section ornamentals with the theme: From Nature to Culture: Breeding Ornamentals for Sustainability. www.gbh.eucarpia27.unige.it
Their presence at Iftex will help them integrate into global trade, thereby contributing towards sustainable economic development in these countries.
More exhibiting flower growers at Iftex also means an even more comprehensive range of Kenyan-grown cut flowers for European importers to source from.
For more information, visit www.iftex.org
12-13. NETHERLANDS
Groen-Direkt Summer Days. www.groen-direkt.nl
SEPTEMBER 2023
7-8. UNITED STATES
World Floral Expo at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York. www.worldfloralexpo.com
7-9. UNITED KINGDOM
Interflora World Cup at the Manchester Central. www.interflora.co.uk
8-10. NETHERLANDS
Holland Dahlia Event, held in the region between Haarlem and Leiden. www.hollanddahliaevent.com
12. FRANCE
In association with Valhor, Destination Angers will host its Journée Pro Végétal Connect at the Centre des Congres in Angers. A biennial event
bringing together growers, wholesalers, landscapers, city authorities and horticultural suppliers to discuss the future of ornamental horticulture in France.. www.vegetal-connect.com
13-15. RUSSIA
Flowers Expo at the Crocus Convention Centre in Moscow. www.flowers-expo.ru
21-23. ITALY
Flormart, Italy’s second-largest horticultural trade exhibition taking place at PadovaFiere in Padua. www.flormart.it
24-30. ITALY
International Garden Centre Association Conference in Baveno (Lake Maggiore). The conference pre-tour includes a visit to Sicily’s iconic plant nurseries. www.igca2023.com
Industry veteran, and former FCI publisher, Jaap Kras discusses the future of the Flower Council of Holland, which is hanging in the balance
“The Dutch flower industry began de facto in 1968 when six EEC member countries removed customs duty on goods imported from each other.
The beginning of the Customs Union allowed the Netherlands to export its cut flowers and plants more freely to Italy, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium.
The government policy In the Netherlands relied on three pillars: scientific research carried out by Wageningen University, education, and extension programmes designed to disseminate information on agricultural technologies and business management.
This triple helix approach with the Dutch government, academia and the industry led to a suite of fantastic results. I will probably always wonder why the government embarked on a different course of action.
I am also old enough to remember how Germany closed its borders for imported flowers in the run-up to Easter and Mother’s Day, always followed by a rapid price collapse at the flower auctions.
Since 1968, closing borders is no longer allowed within the EU for imported flowers and plants and annual production and exports skyrocketed from approximately 250m Dutch guilders in 1968 to more than four billion guilders in 1980. Horticultural sector bodies such as the Association of Dutch flower auctions (VBN), the Dutch association of Wholesalers in Floricultural Products (VGB) and the Dutch floristry organisation (VBW) rapidly professionalised. In the 1970s, the sector decided to set up a new organisation to grow sales for flowers and plants by building consumer awareness and funding PR and media campaigns. Soon after, the Dutch flower auctions, more than seven at that time, founded the Flower Council of Holland, in Dutch
also known as Bloemenbureau Holland, which quickly earned international recognition through its iconic tagline ‘Bloemen houden van mensen’ (Flowers love people).
Life was easy in those days. Demand for ornamentals exceeded supply fuelling constant business expansion at the grower’s level. Nearly all flowers and plants sold through the auction clock, hosting a buyer’s audience that mainly comprised of florists and traditional wholesalers as the retail market for flowers and plants was still in its infancy.
In such a buoyant market, growers and floral wholesalers had no objections to paying an additional two per cent of their turnover to fund the newly established Flower Council of Holland. At that time, the flower auctions collected the money, which was subsequently transferred to the Council – the BBH levy.
The Council teamed up with wholesale and import organisations in the primary export markets for Dutch flowers and plants: >50 per cent Germany, > 20 per cent France, and >20 per cent Great Britain. Thanks to the visionary dedication of the Council’s former director, Niek van Rest, BBH campaigns and B2B events turned out to be very successful.
Today, the world has changed. Many growers sell directly to wholesalers, bypassing the levy meant to fund the Council. This problem is also known as freeriding.
For many years, the wholesalers refused to contribute the same sum of money to BBH as the growers did. This situation felt like an injustice. Meanwhile, a toxic debate took root among the boards of the participating organisations, with the pertinent question being: How can we measure that the money spent on promotion leads to further growth of consumption?
The second next question was: What’s in for
me? If I am a major export company and my contribution to the Council is so high, how does my company benefit from it, and where does all the money go0?
These are all well-known questions for the corporate boards overseeing massive promotion budgets, but they were impossible to answer for interprofessional organisations.
The bigger companies promote their products and protect them with specific trademarks. However, the Flower Council of Holland’s primordial task is to undertake generic promotional activities rather than embarking on brand advertising. And once Niek van Rest had retired, the Flower Council of Holland’s leadership failed.
Royal FloraHolland decided that from 1 January 2024, it will stop collecting the contributions for BBH.
The basis for the EU agricultural policy is redefined in Regulation 1308/2013, establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products. This regulation allows the member states to extend rules of interbranch and producer organisations to non-member operators.
If Royal FloraHolland steps out of BBH, one can hardly defend BBH as a producers’ organisation. In the best-case scenario and with VGB support, you can call it an interbranch organisation However, an interbranch organisation only is recognised if it represents an important majority of wholesalers or wholesale turnover, as proved by consulting all relevant stakeholders.
I fear that the support base will be too small to come to a governmental decision to make a rule that all growers and traders of flowers and plants in the Netherlands have to contribute to the BBH activities (what to do with import products?). So, this will mark the end of BBH.”
The Bloom phase is an exciting part of the plant life cycle during which vegetative growth is reduced and generative development starts.
As a gardener, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as watching your plants go through their different phases and produce beautiful blooms and delicious fruits. The flowering phase, in particular, is crucial, as it sets the stage for the production of your plants’ sweet and juicy fruits. At Atami, we understand this importance, so we’ve developed a range of products specifically designed to stimulate and enhance the flowering and fruiting phase of your plants.
From the novice to the experienced agriculturist and from the budget-conscious to the organic enthusiast, our product ranges are designed to suit you and your gardening preferences.
If you’re an experienced gardener looking to get the most out of the garden, our B’cuzz line is the perfect choice. This line features Bloom Stimulator and Blossom Builder Liquid, which work together to create an explosion of beautiful flowers that will mature into succulent fruits.
The ATA line is designed for the grower who wants to achieve great results without getting too complicated or spending too much money. Our products, such as Terra Max, Coco Max, and Terra AWA, are perfect for soil, coco, and hydroponic
growing. Use any of them together with PK 13-14, and the results will satisfy you. We can’t forget about ATA-XL, a special product that is a growth and flowering stimulator, containing the ideal dose of primary PK nutrients to kickstart the flowering phase.
And, for organic growers who want to achieve explosive production of flowers without sacrificing aroma and flavour, our ATA NRG line features Flower-C and Bloom-C. This stimulator and enhancer are enriched with amino acids, trace elements, and vitamins that the plant directly absorbs. Adding Flavor to your nutrition regimen will also stimulate sugar production in your fruits, resulting in a sweeter and more aromatic yield.
In conclusion, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced grower, Atami’s product range can help you achieve fantastic blooms and tasty fruits. Our flowering stimulants and enhancers have been carefully developed to meet the needs of different types of growers and their budgets while providing persuasive evidence of their effectiveness through awards and recognition all around the world. So why not give our products a try and unleash the full potential of your plants?
Better flowering, better harvest!
