FlowerTECH 2005, vol. 8/no. 34 www.HortiWorld.nl

Editorial

Marketing is undoubtedly a profession in its own right with specialist knowledge and experience required to fully understandthe role of promotion within a fully integrated marketing plan. But, this does not mean that a grower’s own experiences can-not be used to help inspire the market. Expert knowledge, particularly when combined with personal contact, will always be apowerful tool in the promotion of products. This is a subject area that caught my attention on two different occasions thismonth. First, while discussing the carnation and its main enemy – an old fashioned image – with Jeroen de Kuijer, P. Kooij& Zonen export- and product manager, and his comment, “Among the growers who deal direct with florists or sales outlets,there has to be enthusiasm for innovation”. While there are obviously many organisations focused on creating a structuralplatform for the presentation of ideas (e.g. the Flower Promotion Organization, an alliance of United States and Colombian

fresh cut flower growers, and the Flower Council of Holland, which makes great use of emphasising trends to keep drawing attention to flowers andplants in new and original ways), the growers’ input is obviously seen as essential.

Tsegaye Abebe, chairman of the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association, also exemplifies how experience can be a very effectiveform of promotion, although he is more focused on his home country, Ethiopia, rather than specific products. Tsegaye is committed to developing thehorticultural sector in Ethiopia. His careful explanation of the past and present situation, and his openness over the ongoing challenges translates into afeeling of confidence about the future. Interestingly, one of his main concerns is to create the personal contact between international industry expertsand the local growers. The value of ‘shared experience’ should not be forgotten in the formula for success!

Anabel Evans, Editor Flower Tech

USA - A quarantine research facility opened in the USA willallow US Department of Agriculture scientists and coopera-tors to safely work on solutions to some of south Florida’smost devastating invasive weed and insect problems.

“This new quarantine facility will provide scientists with aninvaluable resource to aid them in cooperative efforts tocontain invasive species that threaten the Everglades andother environmentally sensitive areas in south Florida,” saidEdward B. Knipling, administrator of the AgriculturalResearch Service, USDA’s chief in-house scientific researchagency. (ars)

Pam becomes a FellowUSA - Pam Marrone, chairman and founder of AgraQuest, Inc, hasbeen made an Fellow by the American Association for theAdvancement of Science (AAAS) for her work commercialising effec-tive, organic biopesticides. The AAAS Council awards Fellow statusto individuals across a variety of scientific disciplines that exhibitboth extraordinary scientific achievement and professional involve-ment.

AgraQuest is a US biotechnology company that focuses on discov-ering, developing, manufacturing and marketing effective, safe andenvironmentally friendly natural pest management products. It hasseven effective natural pest control products on the market in 18countries.

Invasive plant researchlaboratory

Anti-piracy activity continuesEU - After the seizure of illegal roses from Brazil made in February atthe Lisbon’s international airport customs, Nirp International goes onwith its activity of monitoring the EU borders in order to check theimports of roses. Nirp International has lodged applications for con-trol of the imports of protected varieties at all the European customsauthorities, including the main ports of entry of flowers such as,among others, Lisbon, Madrid, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam andParis.

Based on the new EU regulations against the infringement of IPrights, that include the plants’ breeders rights, and thanks to the con-stant co-operation of the customs authorities, it is now harder andharder for IP pirates to export into the European Union without therisk of being discovered.

At the beginning of May, Dr. Andrea Mansuino, Nirp International’sofficer and chairman of the Anti-piracy Working Group of CIOPORA(the international association of breeders of ornamental and fruit vari-eties) has spent two days at the British customs in Heathrow Airport,London, in order to inspect imports of flowers from India, SouthAfrica, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil, Turkey and other countries.

This intervention has made possible the establishment of a stronglink and co-operation between the UK custom officers and NirpInternational which will become much more effective in the comingmonths. Nirp International intends to strengthen strong and long-term relationship with all Custom officers in Europe in order to opti-mize all human resources and energies involved. Therefore, more con-trols and possible seizures are planned throughout the whole year inall arrival places for roses entering into the European gate.

FlowerTECH 2005, vol. 8/no.3 5www.HortiWorld.nl

News

China - Thanks to its climate Guandong hasalways been a province with a developedflower industry. The growers are no longercontent with dominance in the domesticflower market and are actively participatingin the international market. Through intro-ducing foreign investment, exporting for for-eign exchange and working hard to innovate,a group of internationally competitiveexport-oriented flower bases have emergedalong the west bank of the Pearl River Delta

in the Guangzhou - Foshan - Zhongshan -Zhuhai region.

For example, at Shunde Chencun morethan half of the companies come fromabroad. Within the flower market zone ofnearly 667 ha, which was built with morethan 1.5 billion yuan introduced funds,around 200 specialized firms from S.Korea,Singapore, Australia, Japan and Holland havemoved in. Large export-oriented flower nurs-eries like this are becoming increasingly

common in Guangdong. According toincomplete statistics Guangdong has estab-lished more than 600 foreign-invested flowerfirms and attracted nearly $800 million for-eign investment. Province-wide flower-grow-ing area has expanded to nearly 87,000hectares. Foreign exchange generated byflower export has exceeded $500 million, onaverage, each year for the last few years. (sa)

Foreign firms swarm into flower corridor

Small company supportBrazil - Small businesses make up 98% of all companies inBrazil, however research has shown that many of them close intheir first years mainly due to lack of proper planning and marketassessment. SEBRAE, a semi-governmental agency supportingsmall companies, is now turning to agribusiness, specially theflower chain. SEBRAE offers courses and workshops for peoplewho want to go into a new business, and give consultancy forthose starting out. In Rio Grande do Sul state (RS), the develop-ment of a sustainable flower chain has been deemed ‘priority’.The local SEBRAE office aims at organizing the sector there sinceRS has the highest per capita flower consumption in Brazil butimports 60% of them from other states. Actions include lecturesfor flower shop owners and organization of grower groups. Acommercialization center has been announced as well.

In the Amazon region a new coop was set up with the agencyhelp, uniting growers of tropical crops such as alpineas. Agermplasm bank was started with the help of Embrapa to assiston research. Another success story comes from Alagoas state,growers who attended a SEBRAE training course there 6 years agoexported 255,000 stems of tropical plants in 2004.

SEBRAE and its partners plan to invest R$ 6 million in 2005and R$ 19 million until 2007 into 24 ongoing floriculture proj-ects in 17 states. Brazil has set another flower export record in thefirst quarter of 2005 and its internal market is estimated at R$ 2billion/year. (mauriciomathias@hotmail.com)

Second IFEXJapan - The second International Flower Expo Tokyo, IFEX 2005, will be heldfrom 20-22 October at Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo Japan. This event is co-organ-ised by Japan Floral Marketing Association and Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd.Following the success of the first IFEX, this year the show will expand itsexhibiting space 70% over last year. Already 450 companies, including 140new exhibitors, are now committed to join the second edition

of this event. Until the first IFEX last year, no comprehensive flower andgardening industry trade show was held in Japan. After the first IFEX, it isinteresting to note that many exhibitors now show a strong interest in pro-moting on-site business. The number of the exhibiting countries will alsoincrease from 19 to 25.

Contact: IFEX Show Management, Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd., 18F Shinjuku-Nomura Bldg., 1-26-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 164-0570, Japan. Tel:+81-3-3349-8511 FAX: +81-3-3345-7929 E-mail: ifex-eng@reedexpo.co.jp Web:www.ifex.jp

Inspired by Asian Games Qatar - In December Qatar will host the First Qatar Flower, Plant &Gardening Expo in the Doha Exhibition Center, to supply the Qatar Marketand especially the Asian Games, to be held in 2006 in Doha Qatar, with thehuge need of cut flowers, plants and gardening products. HPP FloralExhibitions is organising the event together with the Doha Authorities.(www.agriflor.com)

Antalya eventTurkey - Growtech Eurasia 2005, the fifth International Horticulture,Floriculture, Agriculture and Organic Farming Fair is being organized inAntalya from 1-4 December 2005. Antalya is the capital of Horticulture inTurkey. More than the half of the Greenhouse production is concentrated onthe wide region of Antalya. There is still demand for new technologies toincrease the production, and quality of the products. At the end of April,6,039 m2 were reserved to 103 companies representing 65% of the floorplan. Comparing with last year more interest from foreign companies inGrowtech Eurasia 2005 Fair is noted. (www.growtecheurasia.com)

Satisfied with 2004The Netherlands - FloraHolland achieved its budgeted result byoperating on the basis of zero growth and a drastic cost manage-ment programme. Sales of €1.9 billion, virtually the same as in2003, were achieved with a net result of €5 million; the auctiontherefore looks back on 2004 with satisfaction. “The years of stag-nating sales appear to be behind us and we expect a slight salesincrease of 2-3% this year,” managing director Jacques Teelensaid. In 2006, FloraHolland plans to lower commission to suppli-ers by 10%.