Sustainable Flowers in Europe
Colombia is one of the leading players in the international market for cut flowers. The lion’s share of its flowers are exported to the United States (about 75%), with other markets such as Russia, Japan and various European countries taking less than a quarter. Despite the country’s efforts to differentiate its products and comply with international social and environmental standards, Colombian exports of cut flowers to Europe have been stagnant for decades. Read More »Sustainable Flowers in Europe
The Flower Label Program (FLP) certification scheme has been successfully benchmarked with the Fair Flowers Fair Plants (FFP) standard. With immediate effect, all FLP-certified producers can now market their produce also under the FFP-consumer label. The FLP producers can extend the FFP assortment at short notice. Due to the recent increase of FFP points of sale in Europe, these flowers will be more than welcome. At the same time, FLP is the first consumer label which enables it’s growers to market as well under FFP.
Given the importance of market transparency for producers aiming at selling their products overseas, the report provides relevant information for producers – within the trade context. The report makes an attempt to capture all relevant information on the European market for fair and sustainable flowers and plants – ranging from economic structure of this market to production characteristics, and major trends in consumer preferences and behaviour.
In the course of the Master Class training series, participants wrote a concise export marketing plan. The structure of the export marketing plan was used as the framework for the special topics covered in the training programme: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), post-harvest and logistical requirements, market research in the flower business, getting the best price on the auction, and internal and external communication and client orientation.
The European Commission has officially announced the winner of the EU organic logo competition. Over the past two months, some 130,000 people have voted online to choose the new organic symbol from three finalists. The winning design is by Dusan Milenkovic, a student from Germany, who gained 63 % of the overall vote for his “Euro-leaf” logo. From July 1, 2010, the organic logo of the EU will be obligatory on all pre-packaged organic products that have been produced in any of the EU Member States and meet the necessary standards. It will be optional for imported products. Other private, regional or national logos will be allowed to appear alongside the EU label. The organic farming regulation will be amended in the coming weeks to introduce the new logo into one of the annexes.