A New Flight to UK
A new flight from Kenya bringing fresh vegetables and flowers to major UK suppliers has landed at Doncaster Sheffield Airport. A water arch celebrated the arrival of the aircraft in the traditional way – marking DSA’s first scheduled flight handling perishable goods. The airport secured a deal with Network Airline Management and the weekly service is from Nairobi. It comes as it celebrates being named the fastest growing in the country, after experiencing 43.1 per cent growth with 1.3m passengers in the year to April. The latest cargo figures also show a new record after a 113 per cent annual increase in 2016.

Dayle Hauxwell, cargo manager for Doncaster Sheffield Airport, said: “We are delighted to be announcing this news so soon after seeing record cargo figures for last year.

“We’ll be working with Network Airline Management to handle a weekly scheduled flight from Nairobi with flowers and vegetables for the UK market. This deal will see some 3,500 tonnes of cargo transported a year. This new scheduled operation also opens up the opportunity for UK export freight. “Our entrance into this new market is further evidence that the cargo operation has established an international reputation as the UK’s most freighter friendly airport. And we believe this is just the beginning. ”The airport was certified as a port of entry for perishable commodities last year, allowing it to access a significant global market. With offices across the globe and handling over 70,000 tonnes of cargo annually, the Network Aviation Group heads up a division of cargo companies. Network Airline Management, the freighter division, operates a fleet of B747F and MD11F aircraft on a scheduled and charter basis throughout the world. Andy Walters, commercial director, said: “Doncaster Sheffield Airport offers a 24-hour operation, is very freighter-friendly and considerably less congested than other locations. It also has a very pro-active team. With partners Anglo World Cargo, they work hard to deliver a tailor-made service.”

Behind the Scenes at Breeders in Kenya
The IFTEX is in full swing and visitors from all over the world took the opportunity to not only attend the show this week, but also visit the growers and breeders at the farms in Kenya. Nowhere in the world are more roses grown than in Kenya. Unlike Colombia, which is still a solid second, the acreage is still growing as well. Not quite as fast this year though, Haiko Backer of Schreurs tells us, in light of the upcoming elections causing civil unrest. But once that’s over with, the will and means to invest are somehow rekindled, and the way up is found again. It always happens like that, he says, and with 11 years under his belt he knows what he’s talking about. There’s still room for expansion, and the factors making Kenya such a suitable flower production country are still the same: the equator, the sun, and the altitude. Lake Naivasha, the main source of water, isn’t going anywhere fast either, and the political and economical situation are mostly stable. And they know what they’re doing here: compared to Colombia, here they produce significantly more stems per meter.

Chrysal Africa 12 Years Strong in East Africa
‘Improve the quality of flowers exported out of East Africa.’ This has been the goal of Chrysal since they entered this part of the continent 12 years ago. Since the very beginning, they were exhibiting at the IFTEX, which has helped this company to be one of East Africa’s largest suppliers of flower food and post-harvest treatment suppliers in East Africa.

Chrysal in Kenya
Chrysal has been present in East Africa for 12 years now. Since 2005 Chrysal has been represented through a distributor channel selling Flower food out of Kenya and working closely with surrounding East African Countries. In a period of 5 years, Chrysal grew, thanks to the interest and support from the region’s growers. This support and interest led to the decision for Chrysal to firmly plant its roots in Kenya and in 2009 Chrysal decided to start their own production and manufacturing plant based in Nairobi located 3 km from the capital’s airport. Since 2010, Chrysal has grown steadily, to become a leading supplier of Flower Food and Post-Harvest Treatment Suppliers in East Africa; gaining the confidence of the growers, with its innovative and world leading Post-Harvest Treatments and Flower foods products supported by its teams and resources. Not only has Chrysal become a well-known supplier of grower products, its Technicians are well respected in the industry and called upon to advise the growers on a number of issues from pollution control to product and process management. Though Chrysal is still considered a small multinational company, however we are now also present in Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania and have a continuously growing list of clientele in all countries.

Duty Hurts Kenya’s Export Plan To China
A four per cent import duty levied on Kenyan flowers has slowed effort to develop an alternative market in China despite a direct aviation link between the two countries.

China, alongside Australia and Japan are among the key markets that Kenyan exporters have been looking to in their efforts to diversify beyond the European Union market.

“The four per cent duty has made our flowers more expensive in China market compared to the EU countries where we sell duty-free,” Kenya Flower Council chief executive Jane Ngige at this year’s International Flower Trade Expo that was opened in Nairobi on Wednesday. About 300 exhibitors and 5000 flower dealers attended the event.

“We are calling upon the Kenyan government to negotiate the removal of the tariff with China the same way flowers from Ethiopia access its market duty free,” Mrs Ngige said.

Flower is a highly perishable good that must be sold two days after harvest. The national carrier, Kenya Airways enjoys a 13-hour direct flight to three Chinese cities — Beijing, and Guangzhou.

On July 1, 2010, China removed tariffs charged on 60 per cent of goods that it imports from Kenya and 32 other developing countries but retained the levy on cut flowers.

The tax has thwarted aggressive marketing effort aimed at penetrating the 1.3 billionpeople market. Mrs Ngige said the Kenya Flower Council members and traders visited China and exhibited flower products in bid to establish sale contacts.

“China is an exciting market and we are equally interested in deepening our foot prints in the larger Asian market,” she said.

Last year, Kenya exported flowers worth Sh70.83 billion, majority of it destined to the EU markets where still enjoys a duty and quota-free export arrangement despite delay in concluding the Economic Partnership Agreement. Kenya also has a duty free flower arrangement with Japan.

Mrs Ngige said the industry’s export diversification drive also targets markets in other Asia and Far East countries adding that China which produces long flowers would be a favourite for the Kenyan roses.

“Over the years as volumes of flower industry and market grows, regulators should give it ample time. We, for instance, expect the Kenya Plants Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) to expand its operations by adopting a 24 hours’ work cycle,” she said. At the moment, Kephis issues 1000–Psyco-sanitary certificates daily to exporters of fresh produce.

The KFC wants the agency to create more time for issuing certificates, inspecting and verifying destinations before flowers leave airport “as it is discomforting when one’s products have been duly inspected in a hurry, ends in one destination and paper work in another destination.”

Despite Uncertainty Regarding Brexit,More Flowers Sold in the UK
It seems the British are spending more on flowers and plants again. At least, that was evident during Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day period according to a market visit of Royal FloraHolland and a number of growers conducted in the spring of 2017 in the UK. During this market visit to the Cash&Carry’s and florists near London, it became clear that sales were good around the holidays. Despite the uncertainty associated with Brexit, these companies realised an increase in turnover in the first quarter.

Greatest increase in seasonal flowers
Traditionally, the list of the top 10 cut flowers sold in the UK is headed by roses, chrysanthemums, lilies and carnations, but in the last two years, seasonal flowers like tulips and amaryllis and year-round products like gerbera and lisianthus have become increasingly prominent. Around 50% to 70% is currently ordered and delivered via the Cash & Carry webshop. This has resulted in fewer florists physically coming to the Cash & Carry.

New Covent Garden Market opens at new location
The largest wholesale market in the UK, New Covent Garden, changed its location on 3 April 2017. Royal FloraHolland and a number of growers visited this new, lovely and fresh location. The new wholesale market consists of 25 flower and plant dealers and a few hardware and pottery suppliers. Many dealers confirmed that they had a positive result for the first quarter of 2017 compared with last year.

Outlook of top-segment florist improving
During the market visit, the tour stopped by many top-segment florists in London. These florists are leaders for the market as a whole. Many local, smaller florists look up to them and copy their trends. The various interviews revealed that they had a positive result in the first quarter. This is due particularly to the currently strengthening economy.

There is little effect of Brexit visible, except for the fluctuations in the exchange rate of the pound. The florists have noted primarily an improvement in the commercial and major events market. Many companies, hotels and catering outlets are again spending money on horticultural products, and the demand for floral subscriptions is increasing according to the dealers. “The British want to be cheered up with flowers in this turbulent time of uncertainty, war and attacks.”

Supermarket loses market share to online
The supermarket channel is and will remain the most important sales channel for flowers in the UK, 47% of consumers buy flowers via this channel. But in the last year this sales channel seems to have passed its peak, and there is a shift evident towards online and the top-segment florist. The online channel in particular has expanded dramatically in the past 5 years, from 3% to 13% in 2016. The number of companies offering flowers online has exploded, and there is a lot of competition. There is still plenty of growth possible in the British market despite the approaching Brexit. British consumers love flowers and will keep buying them even in these turbulent times.

Growth is primarily evident in the online segment and the top-segment florist. Consumers are buying more from the online channel, and the demand is increasing for exclusive flowers from florists for the commercial and major events market. Florists are looking for luxurious, exclusive flowers that are unavailable or less likely to be found in the supermarket so they can distinguish themselves from the rest.

New FSI Website Live!
FSI proudly announces the launch of the new website at www.fsi2020.com! With a fresh and modern look,the new FSI website supports visitors to understand the approach and commitment to improve sustainability in the floriculture industry. The re-designed website is fully responsive and gives easy access to useful information about the ambition and approach of FSI. Visitors will find relevant documents and useful links in the new “resources” section, and of course the website content will constantly be updated with helpful information, articles and new results.

FSI invites everyone to pay a visit online and greatly appreciatesanysuggestions, feedback or comments, so do not hesitate to send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. And why not join our growing network?!