1. American flower flights take triple hit
2017 has been a challenging year for the US flower importers and South American flower exporters. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma heavily disrupted the flower industry and as it was hardly recovered from the consequences of Hurricane Irma, volcano El Reventador in Ecuador and the pilot strike in Colombia put extra pressure on the industry. And the impact is reflected in the reader rates as our article (American flower flights take triple hit) that covered the story was by far the most read article in 2017.
2. Esmeralda brand available worldwide again
Last year, the devastating news from the burn down of Esmeralda Farms Ethiopia was the most read article in 2016 (click here for the article). In 2017, Esmeralda was again well read. As second in our top-10 most read articles in 2017 is the article Esmeralda brand available worldwide again. In this article, Esmeralda's most heard question since the closure of the operation in the Netherlands (due to the burn down of their farm in Ethiopia) was answered. The question was: Who is distributing flowers for Esmeralda Farms internationally? And the answer is Connectaflor.
3. Wabara expands into new markets with exclusive partnerships
"Wabara will become a global brand". These are the ambitious words of Japanese grower and breeder Ken Kunieda of Rose Farm Keiji. The brand consists of Japanese garden type roses with unusual shapes and scents. Currently, five selected farms, including Rose Farm Keiji are cultivating and selling the brand. Uhuru Flowers placed their first varieties on the market in March 2017.
4. Europe: 'Orange petunia genetically modified for sure'
How can a variety, which is not allowed to be produced or sold, nevertheless be produced and sold? Yet this seemed to be the case with a few orange petunia varieties in Europe. Despite its relative insignificance in numbers, they were available at several breeders and growers. The end of April, the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira announced to prohibit any further sale of the concerning varieties in Finland. In Evira's analyses, one lot of petunia seeds (African Sunset) as well as eight petunia varieties that had already been planted were found to be genetically modified. Selling GM plants within the European member states is not allowed, so what happened?
Royal Flowers is an Ecuadorian rose grower that started with producing flowers in a 4ha farm in 1992 and has expanded the farm to 140 ha and is still growing. In this less than four minute video that was published in May, the journey of the Royal Flowers roses, from production till shipping out, has been filmed. Sit back and enjoy.
6. Blue roses do not come out of the blue
After over 20 years of breeding, testing and propagating, Japanese breeder Suntory Flowers succeeded in putting a new color rose on the market. It was launched mid-September and the first flowers have been shipped out from Maxiflores, a farm in Colombia, to Fresca Farms, which will exclusively supply the North American market with this new variety named Applause.
7. Naeldebakken enters the world of ornamental edibles
Danish ornamental grower Naeldebakken recently entered a totally new world: the cultivation of ornamental edible vegetables. In 2016 they introduced the indoor tomato plant of Dalina Genetics and recently added the seedless pepper. "We did not find any sweet seedless pepper on the market yet and at the same time, it is the next step in the Kitchen Minis range, where we want to add new products into the 'grow your own' segment for in- and outdoor use", says Bent Hansen, Sales Manager at Naeldebakken.
8. Bloomingdale Roses' Bunty Shah shot dead
In October 2017, Bloomingdale Roses' owner Bunty Shah was shot dead at his family's home in Nairobi, Kenya. Shah and his Bloomingdale Roses brand was a well-known name in the flower industry, operating a 38 ha nursery with a range of 20 breeds, grown on the slopes of Mount Kenya.
9. Canada: CosMic Plants expands orchid production
CosMic Plants is expanding its orchid production. In June 2016 owners and brothers Mike and Neil Van Steekelenburg acquired an existing, modern 240,000 square feet greenhouse in their hometown Beamsville. In June 2017, about half of the greenhouse is filled up with Phalaenopsis orchids and the other half was prepared for orchid production, but initially was rented out.
10. Guatemala: Holland Orchids to become year round cymbidium grower
Supplying cymbidiums year round is one of the main goals of the Guatemalan cymbidium cut flower grower, Holland Orchids, and they expect to achieve this goal by the end of 2019. In order to become a year round grower, they will expand their greenhouse in January 2018. In May 2018, they expect to move plants to the new compartments and supply cymbidiums year round by the end of 2019.