Though not huge, the Kazakh market offers interesting outlooks in its own right. Local production is low, about 90% of all floral products is imported. Flowers and plants are mainly imported from the Netherlands, Ecuador, Colombia, Kenya, Israel and China. About 70% of the total volume of imported flowers, mostly roses, is consumed by Almaty and Astana. As cash figures are not too impressive, though data can be deceiving. Being a developing nation, perhaps prospects are more interesting than achieved results so far: according to experts, market capacity for the import of flowers is 80-100 million dollars.
John van Elstgeest of Flower Circus was exhibiting at this show for the first time and next to hosting floral demonstrations in his typical suit, he made some pictures and kindly shared them with us.
John: "In numbers of both exhibitors and visitors, the fair was not particularly big. However, our floral demonstrations could count on lots of attention. I dare to say our shows were the expo's hotspot, and florists bombed us with questions. Interestingly, many did not know that phalaenopsis is also produced as cut flower, that bouquet fillers come in many varieties, and there is generally a lot to learn about assortment and new varieties." In their shows, FlowerCircus promoted the products of Royal Flowers, Deliflor, Adomex, Special Orchids, Ichtus Flowers, Bredefleur, Florein Gerbera, vd Lugt Lisianthus and Beyond Chrysant.
AstanaFloraExpo is a joint project of exhibition companies "AstanaExpo-KZ", Kazakhstan and "GreenExpo", Russia. More information on the fair can be found here.
