On 12 & 13 October, BBC World aired the “Made On Earth” documentary episode featuring Flowers. In an effort to tell the story of the world’s trading networks through eight everyday products, the BBC chose to portray flowers as one of the leading industries for their global trade logistics and socio-economic contribution to developing countries.
The 30mn episode sheds the light on the fascinating "behind-the-scenes" of the global flower trade. From Kenya to the Netherlands, but also New York and London, it gives an interesting take on the journey of flowers, the people and logistics behind it, and how it all comes together to get those beautiful blooms as fresh as possible to the end consumer.
Union Fleurs Secretary General Sylvie Mamias contributed to the story with her unique insights on the international flower trade and its dynamics, alongside Kenyan flower farm Tambuzi Roses, Royal FloraHolland and UK superstar flower artist Simon Lycett.
If you have missed the documentary on BBC World, it’s available on replay.
An in-depth online article entitled "The new roots of the flower trade" was also published on the BBC website as a complement to the documentary. Sylvie Mamias contributed to a great extent to the article with detailed facts & figures on the international flower supply-chain. The article gave the opportunity to highlight in greater details many aspects that couldn't be fully captured in the documentary format, such as the socio-economic benefits of the international flower industry in flower-growing countries and the impact of fairtrade flower schemes.