During the show, former employee of Esmeralda Farms (who now works for Kenyan farm Mount Elgon Collection, that has the booth next to Connectaflor at the show) was asked to do the honours.
Flights cancelled of US exhibitors
The Irma Hurricane paid a punishing visit to Florida last Sunday and Monday. It resulted in the cancellation of many flights which in turn prevented some US exhibitors from attending the FlowersExpo Moscow. The booth of Connectaflor, for example, was not manned. The flights of the employees of this Florida based company, that sells the Esmeralda brand flowers worldwide, were cancelled due to the Hurricane.
Pablo Bazzani, Ekaterina Shmatova and Camilo Bazzani of La Plazoleta, a Colombian flower farm. According to Pablo, due to the cancelled flights they lost around 50,000 USD.
Unsent flowers from South America
The majority of all cut flowers imported into the US are flown in from South America into Miami's Airport. As the Hurricane affected the flights from and to Miami, the South American farms were therefore too. The flowers that were destined for the US market had to be sent to other markets or had to be thrown away. When talking to some South American exhibitors at the show, depending of the size of the farm, the losses are around 30,000 and 100,000 USD per farm. Now, the next question is, when can our flowers be shipped to our clients in the US again? On Tuesday, there was a lot of confusion when the airlines and airports would be ready to send out the flower shipments to Miami again as passenger and cargo flights resumed on a limited basis. The South American exhibitors hope and think that the cargo shipments will increase on Wednesday. Many hope that everything will be shipped out as usual by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, the first flights from Colombia to the US have taken off yesterday, and the cargo transports are gradually starting up again.
Alexandra and Gonzalo Luzuriaga of BellaRosa and Rose Connection, an Ecuadorian rose farm.
KLM cancelled flights to the Netherlands
Dutch airlines KLM have cancelled some flights flying from or into the Netherlands out of precaution due to a heavy storm in the Netherlands. Also some flights of the Dutch visitors at the FlowersExpo Moscow have been cancelled yesterday, they are currently waiting for new flight options.
David Quesada of Inverpalmas, a Colombian flower farm.