Proflora 2023 is coming to an end. On this third day, the 300+ exhibitors from 18 countries will again do their best to present their products and services.
How is the vibe? Positive! There are challenges, of course, like the strong and fluctuating peso, political instability, increasing labor costs, and not to forget inflation. On top of that, many growers report slower summer sales this year. Fortunately, they see an increase in sales again.
Daniela Navarro of Selecta Cut Flowers. They have a new assortment of gerberas and a new carnation filler inspire collection, named the Solandis Sweeties collection. They both are launched at Proflora.
Hans Glorie of Royal Van Zanten presents their Liber Lilies, which are pollen-free.
It is clear that the ‘2-year covid dream’ has come to an end and that sales numbers are back to 2019 levels and this summer, for several growers, unfortunately below 2019 levels. A reason opted by several exhibitors was that consumers may be spending too much on going out again.
What do we hear more when talking to the exhibitors? In some regions, growers had to deal with La Niña, so there was a lot of rain and less sunlight, therefore dealing with botrytis and delayed productions. Also, increasingly, more consolidation is taking place as the larger farms are taking over the smaller farms. For some farms, Russia had been an important market, but since the war, receiving the money has become a challenge.
The team of Chrysal presenting their new no-cut solution.
Clara Malpica and Juan Carlos Gallón of Oboya South America. In Colombia, many of the large flower growers do not only grow flowers, but they also grow blueberries. Oboya now also manufactures clamshells so they can supply the growers for both industries.
The team of Deliflor Americas. Showing the new categories they have. Namely Ballhias, Full Fillers and Margriet.
All in all, an exhibitor said that growers need to become smarter, stronger, and more efficient to stay in the business.
Sylvia van Uden and Juan Esteban Ocampo of Weber Vacuum Cooling. They have been improving the cold chain of flowers in Colombia with vacuum cooling solutions for many years now.
John Vaughan, founder of Asocolflores and Grupo Andes Farms, with his grandson Nicolas Gerlein. The farm turned 54 years this year.
Lambros Assariotakis and Dimitrios Milios of Plastika Kritis at the trade show as exhibitors for the first time “We are here to introduce our high-quality plastic to Colombia.”
Pieter Landman (in the middle), together with Ada Van der Wereld and Roos van Leyenhorst of Elite Flower, known as the largest floral organization in the world. Pieter, the director of business development at the company, designed this booth, which includes over 30,000 stems. Ada and Roos helped to realize this design.
More about the current developments, challenges, potential, and later on FloralDaily. First, some more pictures of the show. Stay tuned for the full report, which we will publish on Monday. Did you miss our FloralDaily editor? Feel free to send in your selfie!