Considering the continued concern surrounding the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Dutch Government issued a legal order banning mass gatherings, closing all schools, restaurants, bars and many more public venues until April 6. Many local governments have taken additional measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Syngenta Flowers feels that in times like this, the industry and growers have other priorities and it simply doesn’t feel right to host the FlowerTrials this year, the company shared in a statement. For that reason, they decided to cancel their upcoming FlowerTrials event.
Sandra Verlaat, Head of Marketing Europe said, “The FlowerTrials have an important function in our industry, both in direct customer contact and providing insights into our innovations. Our marketing team started working on organizing a virtual alternative to Syngenta’s FlowerTrials presentation. In this way we can still share the insights of our new varieties and innovative genetics. But first things first, we still find ourselves trying to make sense of this new chapter in our industry. Our Sales team is in constant contact with our customers to help them address the many difficult dilemmas they are facing right now and we do our bit in helping them through this. Let’s hope the industry will soon be back to business.” Syngenta Flowers participation to other trade shows in Europe and all other customer facing events until June 30 is cancelled whilst they closely monitor the developments around COVID-19.
Syngenta Flowers operations in Enkhuizen and the Westland area are currently operational with a limited number of employees and can be contacted by phone/email. Visitors are not allowed at this time, in accordance with the advice of the Dutch government.
Mark Schermer, Head of Syngenta Flowers Europe, about this decision: “Syngenta Flowers puts the health and safety of its employees, customers and families above all else. COVID-19 is heavily impacting our industry, from breeding company to grower and retailer and we believe canceling all events until summer is the best thing we can do. Not only from a financial perspective, but above all to protect our people, our customers and their families. Once we are passed this pandemic, we will need to work together to bring our flowers industry back on track again. For now, we choose to focus on keeping our people and customers safe and mitigating the impact of this critical situation.”
The FlowerTrials Board has collectively decided to wait until April 6th before taking a final decision on whether to cancel the physical FlowerTrials event completely or go ahead. Read more about that here.
Syngenta Flowers