Lately, tropical foliage became a major trend triggered by prints in fashion and home accessories, led by the iconic leave shape of Monstera deliciosa. "The tropical foliage are increasingly part of bouquets”, says Matthias Haudenschild of Agrotropic Switzerland. “Nowadays we deliver a lot of bespoke bouquet templates from source which are then by the industry and florists complimented and combined with flowers. We also source a foliage kit and manual to create the Jungle Wall that is liked a lot by florists that specialize in events."
This tropical foliage is grown in Sri Lanka, by Tropiflora. The company that started in 1980 is a daughter company of the Agrotropic Group. Tropiflora employs 180 workers on three farms with a total acreage of 25 hectares in Daulagala in the Central Highlands, in Dodangaslanda and Attanagalla in the Northwestern province. “The enviable tropical climate permits Tropiflora to offer a wide and deep assortment that is available year-round. To endure challenging climate conditions, we have a strong infrastructure, with reservoir, tube wells, dug wells, drip irrigation, compost production, shade nets, cool room and cooler lorries.”
Trophy for the second year in a row
Tropiflora Sri Lanka is currently exporting to 13 countries in Europe, Middle East and Far East from the United Kingdom to Japan. Recently, this resulted in winning the trophy from the Sri Lanka Export Development board as the Best Exporter in the Floriculture Sector – as they did last year.
Livistona rotundifolia at Lena Farm
Social and ecological sustainability
“Our mission is to cultivate and export tropical foliage with focus on social and ecological sustainability”, Matthias says. “This is guaranteed by demanding certification programs such as Fairtrade (since 2004) and Global GAP. Our IPM Program is based on the use of natural plant protection products such as neem seeds, garlic extract, soaps and oils. Therefore our products are free from residues such as e.g Acephates and Neonicotinoids and therefore fit the advanced requirements of supermarkets. Our harvesting and packing processes make our products fit to pass even advanced border inspections as conducted in Japan.”
Monstera deliciosa at Lena Farm
For more information:
Tropiflora
+41 44 818 78 45
info@tropi-flora.com
www.tropi-flora.com
Agrotropic AG
Matthias Haudenschild
matthias.haudenschild@agrotropic.ch
www.agrotropic.ch