Export of flowers from Kenya to the European Union through the sea is steadily picking up, the Kenya Flower Council said yesterday. The shift to shipping rather than air freight flowers has seen the number of containers rise from the initial one to between 40 to 50 containers a month.
The Council now projects that the number of containers being shipped could go up as more farmers switch to the transport mode that takes more volumes at a lower cost. KFC chief executive Clement Tulezi said the use of sea freight for flower exports has turned out to be a major blessing for the sector, forcing cargo airlines to review freight charges.
“We are currently shipping out ten 40ft containers every week of flowers to Europe, an increase from one container a year ago, and plans are underway to increase this,” he said.
He said the only challenge with shipping is that flower farmers have to use extra-packaging materials to ensure that the produce arrived in Europe while still fresh.
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