REGIONAL BRIEFS
Kenya Airways prepare for direct flight to us
Kenya’s fresh produce growers have something to smile of. Kenyan airways are expected to start making direct flights to the United States, after the US Federal Aviation Administration issued Kenya with a certificate of security and safety clearance.
The clearance follows a successful audit of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), the largest airport in Kenya, by the International Civil Aviation Organization to determine if it meets the necessary international standards.
The announcement was made by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Transport, James Macharia, who called on Kenya Airways, Kenya’s national carrier, to “immediately apply for approval to codeshare with US airlines while concurrently pursuing approval for direct flights.”
Welcoming the safety clearance, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Treasury, Henry Rotich, said direct flights between Kenya and the United States will have a favorable impact on Kenya’s tourism and business sectors.
Flower growers interviewed by Floriculture welcomed the clearance. “The US market is big and we expect to benefit from it”, said a grower. Adding, “We have been selling uncompetitively due to high freight charges.
Direct flights will reduce this”. Kenyan flowers have been going through Europe or South Africa to get to the US market. This has made them less competitive compared to South Americans which are next door.
Speaking exclusively to Floriculture, Ms Jane Ngige, the CEO Kenya Flower Council said Kenya’s flower production quality and audit standards are the best in the world and therefore they may not face any serious competition. However she said more market study was needed to establish the type of varieties the US Market needs. The Kenyan government has welcomed the security approval by the United States, saying it is a result of sustained cooperation between the two countries in many areas, such as security, exports, imports, and tourism.
For its part, Kenya Airways has welcomed the security clearance, saying it is ready to “immediately” start flying passengers directly to the United States.
The airline’s outgoing CEO Mbuvi Ngunze said their priority is to pursue codeshare arrangements with their partners in the Skyteam Alliance to make sure they begin direct flights to the United States soonest.
GLOBAL BRIEFS
‘Kenyan roses not replacing those from South America’
Roses with long stems, large head sizes and a good quality. In Russia, this is how they used to describe a rose. However, their perception and requirements regarding roses changed when Kenyan roses with intermediate head sizes entered the market. Partly due to the crisis, the demand for these types of roses increased; Since January 2016, volumes to Russia and former soviet countries have increased six fold.
Intermediate head sizes
Russians used to go for South American roses, the ones with long stems, large head sizes and good quality. However, the demand for Kenyan roses and roses with intermediate head sizes in particular increased sharply. “Kenya also produces large head roses, but often cannot meet the quality of these South American roses. Quality is a major requirement for the Russian buyers, but due to the crisis, prices became an important requirement too. And the intermediate head sized roses combine both; they have good quality and can be supplied for lower prices. And the same goes for the Kenyan spray roses. These types of roses are also well demanded.
Different position
As these Kenyan roses are cheaper and have high quality, will they overtake the position of the South American roses? According to experts, they will not. “The Kenyan roses are used for different purposes. They are, for example, often used by florists to make the ‘cheaper’ compositions and by flower shop owners to attract buyers. They are promoting the Kenyan flowers on a sign outside their shop. These rose prices are lower than the rose prices that people are used to. It makes them curious.
Trend to continue in 2017
For 2017, growers expect the positive trend of 2016 to continue. “We expect to increase our volumes to Russia and to explore new markets in Russia. Besides that, we would like to discover new markets in the former Soviet countries like Kazakhstan, Belarus, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan”, says a grower.
Kisima introduces new Bi-color rose No Limit
Kisima launched No Limit at Royal FloraHolland in Aalsmeer. Kisima plants this variety in Timau and will supply length of 40 till 70 cm. Fresco Flowers – located in Aalsmeer- will take care of the unpacking, control and sales of No Limit. No Limit has a beautiful striking pink/white color combination.
No Limit has a strong vase life, good transportability and unique presentation during sales and in the vase. No Limit is developed by Select Breeding. Select Breeding is specialized in the development of medium and T-hybrid cut roses.
Women’s Day: Shorter stem roses
Colored roses with shorter stems of 35 and 40cm with a head size of 4 to 4.5 cm were the most demanded flowers in this year’s Women’s Day in Russia. Since February 21, many Kenyan rose farms were busy with their Women’s Day shipments.
It is considered to be the biggest day for flower sellers in Russia, so the demand for flowers, and in particular roses, is always high, which means good prices for many growers.
Even though the financial situation in Russia seems to be improving, people are still looking for the more affordable options. “They used to buy the large stem roses before the crises, but now they seem to prefer the shorter stems. Besides that, there is also an increase in demand for the spray roses this year.
United Selections holds annual open days in Ethiopia
On Thursday 2nd of March and Friday 3rd of March 2017, United Selections had their annual open days at Joytech, Ethiopia. They show cased a new range of varieties on the two days. The showhouse ready and on flush. Growers were warmly welcomed to learn more about the new assortment for the Ethiopian market! Going by previous years, the breeder was happy with the attendance and hoped this will turn into a conversion.
GLOBAL BRIEFS FloralHolland to open new facilities in China
This year, Royal FloraHolland, the leading Dutch floral cooperative formed in 1911, will open new facilities in Guangzhou and Beijing.
Its trade mission to Shanghai in 2015 spawned strong new links with the Chinese cut flower industry, and led to the creation of the first facility close to Pudong International Airport in Shanghai in 2016.
Royal FloraHolland’s newest facility in Guangzhou will be its most important move in China to date. Guangzhou’s direct connection to Nairobi will allow flowers from Kenya to be delivered straight to China, resulting in a shorter cool chain line and faster delivery for world-class flowers.
“It is our goal to deliver quality,” stressed Lucas Vos, CEO of Royal FloraHolland, “with Chinese-grown flowers combined with internationally grown flora.”
“We thoroughly enjoy working with China because the country has a rich tradition of gifting and festivals,” said Guido de Wit, program director of the Amsterdam-based World Flower Exchange. “Our Chinese customers recognize a rich range of symbolism and meanings associated with different flowers.”
“It challenges us to be aware of multicultural differences, so we can meet the demand for flowers together with our Chinese partners,” he continued. “We also receive a tremendous number of online reviews from our customers in China, who appreciate our commitment to quality and beautiful big headed flowers.”
Royal FloraHolland boasts on-time delivery as well as a seven-day guarantee for customers. With the response from the Chinese market and satisfied clients, it fully expects its business in China to continue to bloom.
Rwanda seeks to increase flower exports
A narrow export base and Ad eclining volumes, coupled with the widening trade deficit driven by the mismatch between import bills and export receipts, have been one of the biggest challenges for Rwandan government strategists and the private sector.
With the international commodity prices dropping and the continued poor performance of the global economy, Rwanda’s traditional markets in Europe, China and America scaled down on imports, hurting the country’s export receipts.
The government and private sector players have over the past two years been working more closely to find ways of improving the country’s exports and reduce the import bill. There are so far many initiatives that are already in place to achieve this, export promotion and diversification.
Under the export diversification strategy, flower growing has been identified as one of the areas that can help the government achieve its target in a short time.
Already, the country’s flagship project, Gishari Flower Park in Rwamagana, could start flower exports. NAEB’s Bella Flowers kicked off raising hopes that the sector could boost exports in 2017. Bloom Hills Rwanda, a Japanese flower export firm based in Musanze District, has also started flower exports. The sector earned $56 million during the first 10 months of 2016, according to NAEB statistics
Valentine with Interplant: Simplicity at its best!
During Valentine, it’s rush hour for all our beloved rose growers worldwide. It’s the time of the year where millions of roses are being sold when lovers take the opportunity to express their feelings to one another! Interplant has many varieties suited for Valentine Bouquets, however, this year we chose to show you Simplictiy at its Best! customers enjoyed our lovely hybrid-tea variety Explorer, an absolute star amongst red rose varieties and rapidly conquering the world at the moment.
ONE NAME. ONE VISION. ONE BOOTH.
The complete Dümmen Orange Portfolio served together first time on one booth in hall 2. The team was happy to tour customers through the world of Pot Plants, Annuals, Perennial, Cutflowers, Succulent and Bulbs and enjoyed to have a nice Coffee together with growers.
Royal De Ruiter launches ‘The Big Five’ promotion campaign
The Big Five®. You might think of the five most beautiful African animals first, but now, it also represents the top red rose varieties of Royal De Ruiter. In their so-called ‘The (new) Big Five’ campaign, Royal De Ruiter promotes their five best red rose varieties; Rhodos, Ever Red, Spectre, Red Kamala and the most recent introduction Cupido. These are being produced in De Ruiter’s production areas in South America, Africa and Europe. “The relevance from a marketing perspective is awesome”, says Örjan Hulshof Sales and Marketing Manager of the company. “The campaign supports growers, traders and florists who are dealing with these varieties during the Valentine’s period, but also for the longterm
Beautiful new numbers by Kordes Roses
Rose growers from across the East African region are naturally clamoring for new interesting varieties to include in their production lines. Kordes Roses’ new codes have drawn a lot of interest from growers. Most have visited their Naivasha farm recently and discussed some of the varieties that are quite promising. These varieties have been the most popular in trial selections inline with indications that growers are looking for larger head sizes without compromising on production.
Commercial testing of new varieties in East Africa is facilitated at ‘Kreative Roses’, the Kordes production company at Naivasha. There, new variety selections are planted in commercial trials in order to prove technical characteristics and market potential, offering customers reliable information as a basis for new variety decisions.