The glass is half full for Colombian growers

The Proflora 2017 is coming to an end. Today is the last day of the three-day event and so far, there has been an energetic vibe at the show. Growers are meeting new, potential and existing customers from all over the world and at the same time they can pay a visit to their product and service suppliers that are also exhibiting. The fair clearly shows that the industry is developing fast. Growers are looking to the potential and opportunities, looking at challenges as a glass that is half full rather than half empty.

Exhibition floor.

Hurricane Irma

Interestingly, and probably fortunately, the consequences of Hurricane Irma are not the talk of town. The demand for flowers in Miami is extremely high, but getting the flowers there is still not that easy. Flights are still delayed, the space in the airplanes is limited and on top of that, the airline costs are high. It is a situation that is out of the growers' (or buyers') hands and they have to deal with it. All they can do is keep close contact with their buyers and hope that the situation will return back to normal soon. At the show, the emphasis is really on the potential of expanding the business.

Pilot strike affecting visitor number?

The exhibitors are already very pleased with the quality and number of visitors that they received the first two days, but several expected to welcome more this year. The reason is unclear, but some think it may have to do with the pilot strike at Avianca. "Avianca is one of the major passenger airlines in Colombia. The strike affected many flights and might have also affected some flights of the visitors", says an exhibitor. No one knows. Another exhibitor even considered the soccer game - Colombia vs Paraguay - that was played in the early evening yesterday as a cause to keep some people away from the show.

Visitors enjoying the soccer game at the end of the exhibition.

FloralDaily
FloralDaily was present at this three-day event to make a full photo report and review the developments in the South American floral industry through interviews with growers, suppliers and visitors. The photo report will be published on Monday October 9, but below a small preview:

The team of KLM.

Monica Alvarez and Andrew Lee of Gloeckner.

Michel Da Costa and Jose Gongora of Agripolyane.

On the first day of the show, the Outstanding Competition Awards were handed out. Below the three companies that won the highest, so called Grand Champion awards. The rest of the prize winners will be featured on FloralDaily later.

Juan Camilo Herrera of Jardines de los Andes. This Colombian grower won the highest award 'Grand Champion' for its Charmelia over all other flowers in the competition and the first place for the "Best in Category".

Olga Perdomo and Michael Vaughan of Grupo Andes Farms holding their awards. They are the Grand Champion among the growers with their rose called Red Eye. This rose also received the first price for "Best in Category". And this all on top of the Acknowledgement award they received from Florverde that morning.

Juaquin de la Torre and Lourdes Reyes of Ball Colombia. They are Grand Champion among the breeders with the delphinium Dark Angel, bred by Agriom. (Ball Colombia is Agriom's agent in South America). This variety also won the first prize "Best in Category" and Ball's Gerbera Spot Light and Stock Spray Vintage Rose both won a second prize "Best in Category" and their Gerbera Dreamline a third price "Best in Category".