American flower growers conclude visit to China

The Hortiflorexpo in Shanghai was the show that anchored the schedule of an American Grown trip because it was such a “must see,” and is only held every other year in Shanghai. According to show officials, they expected over 30,000 people to attend the show this year.

The delegation of flower farmers met with wholesalers and importers to discuss American Grown Flowers and any interest there might be in importing their farms’ flowers.

They also walked the show and saw some familiar names and companies with booths at this year’s show. Australia, Holland and Colombia, all had booths representing flowers that were being imported to China today.

On their last day in China, they travelled to a couple of wholesale flower marts. The first one was found in what appeared to be an abandoned shopping mall. Flower wholesalers have moved in and taken up residence in the old shops.

They also had a meeting with one of the wholesale importers who was encouraged by what their farms produced. Ms. May had her own translator, Catherine, who also helped teach the farms about the importance of WeChat for the China Floral industry.

The delegation visited a number of wholesale markets, retail markets and florists shops that were also doing e-commerce sales, but only one mass-market grocery store that sold flowers.