Proflora 2019, Bogota, Colombia

The team of Danziger. This Israeli breeder will organize an open house at their facility in Israel, the whole month of November. But besides showing their facility and varieties, more is being organized at the “Novemberfest”, as they call it.

Dirk van Dorp of Steenvoorden visiting the show. They recently built a new show greenhouse in the Netherlands.

Andres Cartes of Bloomia. They grow tulips, export them but their biggest market is in Chile, where the farm is based.

Martin Yepes of WAC. For the second year, they are exhibiting at the show. Martin is standing next to Vanilla Ice- one of the white’s with the highest production. In Colombia, they have a showroom at Unique.

The team of Continental Breeding, who developed a remarkable red rose variety called Bromo. This variety can be grown both under foil especially designed for growing red roses, as well as with foil designed to use in cultivating different colour roses (the difference being in the amount of UV light blocked). Normally, reds need less UV, or else they 'burn'. This means the outer leaves get some sort of smoked-looking edges. Normally this is something want to avoid, but with Bromo the effect is quite amazing!

Harel Caduri, Eyal van Moppes and Gabriela Victoria of Gadot Agro. This Israeli company supplies post-harvest solutions for over 40 years in Israel and over the last 5 years, exports to Kenya, Ecuador, Colombia and China increased. At the show, they are preseting Longlife (a consumer product) and T.O.G (for the grower). In Colombia, Agrointegral is the distributor of the Gadot products.

Carmen Lucia Marquez, Joaquin de la Torre and Juana de la Torre of BallSB in front of the arrangements that “bring the garden inside.” They won the award for Best Stand of the Show.

Juan Camilo and Carolina Isaza of Florecer. They grow hydrangeas in Medellin and mainly supply the US and Canada.

The team of Much Flowers. This Ecuadorian farm is diversifying its assortment. They currently have crops in production and are testing more crops Currently, the current acreage under production is 90ha. In gypsophila, they have exclusivity of Clouds (only 4 growers in the world are growing it) and Cosmic (only grower in Ecuador). Both varieties are bred by Israeli breeder Danziger.

A lot of attention for the Agricultural minister of Colombia.

The team of United Selections. Behind the Lighthouse and Whitehouse. Together with Brickhouse and Dollhouse, they will form the House series.

Iván Duque Márquez, president of the Republic of Colmbia, opens Proflora 2019.

Rob Geerlings of Dümmen Orange presenting the calla assortment of Dümmen Orange. They recently started with callas in Colombia and they notice a large interest for the product. “Growers are looking for exclusive bouquets and they can create it with a calla.” Currently, Dümmen Orange had 25 callas that grow well in the Colombian climate.

Asocoflores celebrates 45 years. This fact was commemorated by president Duque, here congraturlating the president of the Colombian growers & exporters assoociation, Augusto Solano (at the opening ceremony)

The president is flanked by the minister of agriculture Andrez Valencia and the president of Asocoflores Augusto Solano.

Jan Haaksman and Juan Felipe Gil of Icon, a Colombian chrysanthemum breeder. “We are the only chrysanthemum breeder in Rionegro that is doing 100% of its breeding process here from scratch.” For five years now, they are active on the Colombian market and they focus a lot on the quality of the foliage – “it needs to be strong, which in turns makes it an interesting product for sea freight”. They are exhibiting at the Proflora for the first time.

The team of Rosen Tantau. In Colombia, they are well known for their red variety Freedom.

Besides Freedom and other varieties that are in their assortment for quite some time, they also present a new line of roses ,namely the Country line with garden type varieties. The line currently exists of 3 varieties, Blues, Home and Sun.

Juan Guaqueta of Guaqueta Trading and Juan Bessette of Benary, the breeder of Matilde – the variety they launched (global release) at the show. In Colombia, Guaqueta Trading has the exclusivity to distribute this variety. The variety is available in seeds and plugs and loves the heat and light. It is recommended to grow in a greenhouse as it does not like cold and rain. At the show, the response from designers, importers and growers was very positive. According to Bessette.

The team of Rosamina. Protea is their main crop which they are supplying 52 weeks a year. “And when we are low in production, we import from the South African and Portuguese growers we joined forces with.” Splendor is the import company (sister company of Rosamina) based in Miami, USA. In total, they grow 59 varieties at the farm.

Alvaro Espinoas of Natalia. Besides their main product roses, they also grow Eurachium and Ranoncules.

Ralph Koopman and Gerard Lentjes of Armada. Eurachium and Trachedium and chrysanthemums are their main products in Colombia. Lola and Saronna Sunny, the ones Gerard is holding are one of their best-sellers.

Ricardo Londono of Progeny, a chrysanthemum breeder. Their varieties are grown in Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico. Now, the first varieties are being trailed in the Netherlands.

Ricardo Londono of Progeny with Albert Borst of Bovebo, who is trialin Progeny’s varieties in the Netherlands, Mozes Muuse of M&M Flor in Naaldwijk, the Netherlands and Timur Khisiametdinov of M&M Flor in Siberia.

Pablo Restrepo Junior and Senior of Excellence Flowers. They grow roses on 25 ha and are planning to expand with another 7 ha in the next 2 years. Next to Freedom, they are also growing the new variety of Rosen Tantau – Game On. They recently had the first flush of this darker red variety.

Henk Jacobs of Dekker Chrysanten, a Dutch chrysanthemum breeder. According to Jacobs, the growers are always looking for something news. “And our strength lies in our broad assortment.” Besides the Netherlands, Colombia is one of their most important markets.

The team of Panalpina. Earlier this year, they took over CargoMaster and soon the name will change to DSV as DSV took over Panalpina.

Maria Delgado and George Velez of Komet Sales. According to Velez, Komet Dynamics is a hit; they are bringing artificial intelligence into the flower business.

Pilar Galvis and Vivian Reina of Jiffy. Amongst others, they are presenting products for the propagation of roses and carnations. Disan is the distributor of Jiffy in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The mornings often start slow, but after lunch time, the aisles are filled with visiors.

Diego Espinosa and Valeria Valdivieso of Agrocoex. On 45ha in the Cotopaxi area, Ecuador, they mainly grow roses, but also new products like ranonculus, alstroemerias, anemones, floriancas and brainthus. At their 3 farms, they have different social projects running. One of their projects is the Fair Trade project that includes different programms; like offering loans, dental care, scholarships, computer center, laundry and their latest and still ongoing project: Housing.

The team of Selecta One. Earlier this year, they acquired La Villetta and are incorporating these varieties into their assortment.

In the carnations, Selecta one is playing with tinting the varieties.

The team of Vacuum Cooling. They set up a second operation in Medellin for consolidation of the flowers.

Gloria Gomez and Eliana Castano of Temporales en Proyeccion.

Noam Temkin of Temkin POC presenting one of their environmental friendly sleeves. This sleeve is made from calcium carbonate.

Martin Yepes of WAC International with Jeroen de Kuijer of Brandkamp, who was visiting the show.

David Coak (in the back) of SuperFloral, Florist’s Review and Canadian Florist – who had a booth- with Neal and Angela of Lane Florist, Cherrie Silverman, and Thomas of America Agroproducts – all from the US – visiting the show.

At the Furtune booth of Plantador, growers could win royalties.

Aviram Krell of Plantador in front of their Forune booth. After extensive trials and preparations, they are ready to supply the growers with this new red variety which has a vase life of 22 days. So far, the feedback is very positive, Krell tells us.

German Lacouture Gutiérrez of Milonga Flowers presenting Bluez – a Dümmen Orange variety. Special about the variety is the difference in color of the inner and outer leaf. According to German, it is very well received in Europe.

Willem Opperman and Ronald van Breevaart of Tessara Ptv Ltd were visiting the show.

Felipe Saldarriaga of Green Bouquet, a Colombian grower of ruscus, and Roy Dallal of Floriad Canada, a Canadian wholesaler, were also visiting the show.

Team of Farm Fresh in front of the bouquets made by Mark Frank (sitting on the right).

Two new varieties of SB Talee. Petite Fleur is a new carnation varitey and Success Hanoi is one of their new ranunculus varieties – a crop they started breeding recently. On top of that, they also recently started breeding alstroemeria.

The team of Worldwide Cargo. Next to flowers, they now also ship fruits and herbs.

Gianfranco Fenoglio of Selecta one and Naoaki Kanamuru of Kaneko Seed, a distributor of Selecta one in Japan.

Daniela Alzate and Diego Ramirez of S&J Flowers. This family company used to sell its flowers to other growers for export, but are now also exporting themselves. They grow their hydrangeas on 35ha and exporting them to the US, Canada, Kazakhstan, South Africa, France, The Netherlands, and the UK.

The booth with the US Associations. Together, their aim is to get the US consumer to buy more flowers. And according research, this will benefit not only the exporters to the US, but the US growers as well, as there is a correlation found between increasing imports and increasing domestic production.

Frans Buzek of La Gaitana Farms. Their main crop is the carnation, but for several months now, they also grow ranonculus. Besides, they also grow Euregium, lisianthus and scabiosa. Their main market is the US, but Buzek sees an increasing demand for Colombian carnations in Europe. “The more high-end supermarkets are demanding for it.”

Steve Rosenbluth and Laura Salcedo of Global Bouquet. At the show, they presented four flower walls that all together represent what they are doing. The first wall on the left represents their miss bouquets, the wall on the right the Novelty Dianthus, including raffine and solomio – of which they are one of the largest growers. The other wall represent all other products they grow and the Nobbio collection of SB Tallee, and particularly the novelties in this collection. Besides all these varieties they grow, they are also experimenting with tinting carnations.

Sergio Madrigas and Anita Arias of Essential Costa Rica – a brand (for which a grower need to apply) that promotes Costa Rican product. Flourish is the association of flower and foliage growers. They (6 growers) work together in sharing agricultural practices and marketing. They consolidate their shipments and therefore can offer a wide product list.

This year, Proflora made a special booth to promote sea freight and named it A Sea of Change. One of the exhibitors: Juamita Macias Eslava of Grupo Puerto de Cartagena, the port in Cartagena where the majority of the flowers that are transported by sea leave the country. Over the last 5 years Eslava has seen the sea shipments of flowers rising. “Containers from Cartagena went up by 40% for Valentine’s Day, when comparing to 2018.”

Another port is Puerto de Barranquilla. In the picture Yerme Cardona Rojano and Anamaria Rincon Jimenez. This port is the only port in Colombia that has a reefer warehouse. This port has the best transit time to Florida.

The team of Panalpina in the booth A Sea of Change. Snice they acquired CargoMaster, their market share in sea transport increased sharply – to over 85%. Soon, the name will change to DSV as this company took over Panalpina.

Marco Amador Frieri of Port Miami at the booth of Seaboard, the shipping line that brings the most cargo (fruits and particularly flowers) from Colombia. Over the years, the amounts increased sharply. More on this later in FloralDaily.

Andrea Ramos and German Guarnizo of ICA, a government institute for phytosanitary rules.

Margarita Suarez, Juan Carlos Manosalva, Jose Luis Suarez, Roger Paredes (owner) and Omar Zambrano (owner) of PrimeAir, which handles Emirates SkyCargo and Atlas Air.

Carolle Garcia and Luz Forero Monccado of University Military Nueva Granada. They are currently working on finding a good biological control product for fight terranychus urticae, a worldwide pest in flowers and fruits.

Oscar Fabian Agudelo and Jeymy Aguirre of Cathay Pacific Cargo. It is an airline that goes to Asia – and Japan is their biggest destination.

The team of Avgust Crop protection. This company – Russian from Origin – is in the business for 26-28 years now and supplies agricultural crop protection solutions.

Bibiana Barrera and Andrea Ariza of Champion Ltda.

Part of the team of Floralfe and Oasis. The product from Floralife that they are presenting are the sachets and the foam black foam from Oasis.

The team of Naranjo. This Ecuadorian rose grower is supplying preserved flowers for one year now. These roses are sold under the brand Name Lulu Rose an are available in stem and jumbo. They worked one year to create a good quality product and are receiving positive feedback so far.

Loes Beelen and Abdel Moussa of IAA Fresh were also visiting the show. They stand in front of the flowers that were put up for nomination.

Maria Jose Vascona and Roberto Villacis of Rosaprima, the biggest rose farm in Ecuador, were also visiting the show.

Part of the team of the US Association booth, fltr: Christopher Drummond of SAF, Christine Boldt of AFIF, Kate Pen of SAF and Michael LoBue of CalFlowers.

Martha Lucia Guttierez and Johana Bermudez Salazar of Aer Caribe Cargo, a Colombian cargo company that charters and consolidates cargo.

Venancio Giraldo Ospina of Condor Andino, a hydrangea grower who grows hydrangeas on 40 ha and ship them mainly to Miami.

Marcela Sanchez, Angelica Quitero and Lina Sanchez of Schreurs. At the booth, they present several of their well-known varieties like Wasabi, and Pink Floyd, and several new varieties.

Agustin Calisto of Florisol presenting some new varieties including cut kalanchoe that they recently started to grow.

The team of Grupo Andes Farms. This family business was one of the first exporting their products and this year, they are celebrating their 50th anniversary.

The entrance where the winners of the variety contest are presented.

Javier Franco of Technoviv presenting Nanoviv and Airocide.

The outstanding varieties winners being announced.

David Coake of SuperFloral, Florist’s Review and Canadian Florist presenting their magazines.

A lot of interest for the winners of the outstanding varieties contest.

Good old friend Lourdes Reyes for the first time in 20 year visiting the show, instead of exhibiting at the show (At the BallSB booth) – “once a flower always a flower lover”

The team of Suntory. In week 43, their dark carnation variety Moonvista will receive authorization in Europe or sales and marketing.

Luz Alva, Rafael Torres Romero and Jennifer Rodriguez Quevedo of Sagaro Flowers. They grow roses (40ha) and carnations (20ha) in Bogota and mainy supply Japan, The Netherlands, UK, USA, Russia, Korea and Spain.

With 700ha, it is one of the biggest family owned flower growers in Colombia: The Elite Flower group. Roses is their biggest crop and they are breeding partners of Rosen Tantau. In the picture: Maray Smith and Myrian Venegas.

Jordy Tucker and Viviana Guanulema of Agrinag. This Ecuadorian farm produces fresh roses, tinted roses, spray roses and alstroemerias.

Juan Jose Albuja of Much Flowers and Alejandro Martinez of Expoflores. The FlorExpo Ecuador 2020 will be (with 146 stands) bigger than last year (115 stands). The dates of the show will be announced soon (end of October 2019).

Edison Benalcazar and Victoria Fernandez presenting their roses at the Ecuadorian pavilion.

Also Andrea Jaramillo and Juan Houdek of Andrea Roses are presenting their roses at the Ecuadorian pavilion.

Fredy Rincon and Carlos Rico of Ipack presenting their cardboard binding machine.

The team of Avianca cargo. “We are the main partner for agriculture in Colombia and a key player for Colombia and Ecuador for the transport of Flowers. We connect Latin America with the world.” During the show, they launched their new freighter flight to Dallas, USA.

Amanda Gomez Garcia of Flores san Juan. They grow roses, carnations and spray carnations on 120 ha (80ha of roses and 40 ha of carnations) and their main market is the US.

Juan David Ocampo Sanchez of Fillco Flowers. They grow roses and carnation on 26 ha (15 ha of roses and 11 ha of carnations) and they see the demand for carnations increasing.

Jose Fernando Sanchez of Flores de la Victoria. In Rionegro, on 50 ha, they produce several types of flowers and make their own bouquets (without roses and carnations). They mainly supply their flowers to US and Canada.

Part of the team of Silvestres. In Medillin, they grow many types of flowers, like chrysanthemum, gerbera, snapdragon, asters and more. They see a large interest in their large headed chysanthemums, like the Everest, a white chrysanthemum.

Broters Danies of El Milagro with Mauricio;s wife Valentina Alberti. This Colombian rose and ranonculus grower is more and more focussing on more exclusive products.

Mauricio Danies of El Milagro with Augusto Solano of Asocolflores.

Gonzalo Luzuriaga of Brown Breeding and BellaRosa and Rose Connection together with Santiago Torres of Schreurs, who represents Brown Breeding. One of this breeder's new varieties is Cancun, on the left side of Gonzalo. Next year the rose will be officially launched and the interest so far seems to be positive.

Adrian Moreno and Marco Vinueza of Rancho San Jorge, an Ecuadorian rose grower, were visiting the show.

The award winners of the outstanding variety competition.

Alejandro Londono and Ana Zapata of Flores del Lago. They grow chrysanthemums, hydrangeas and coloured callas and their main market is the US and Canada.

The team of Plantador. They won 2 awards; the first award for Queens of Crown in the breeder category best rose variety and the second award for the best breeder in show.

The team of Ayura. This year, they did not bring their donkey to the fair, but a car – which they decorated with their flowers. They grow roses and carnations and won an award for their booth.

Albert Borst of Bovebo, Carlos Manuel Uribe of Flores el Capiro and Jean Philippe of Greenwings at the booth of Capiro. This chrysanthemum grower ships 80 percent of it flowers by sea and is currently one of the largest shipper of flowers by sea in the world.

Daniel Maldonad, Adriana Michelsen and Jorge Umana (founder) o Agromonte. They grow carnations, spray carnations and brassicas and will start using solar energy soon. By the end of the year, 30% of their energy will be of solar. According to Maldanado, they are probably one of the first growers in Colombia that starts using solar energy.

Daniel Alba, Adriena Guevara and Varlos Bernal of Aposentos. They grow carnations and mini carnations on 80 ha and mainly supply Japan and Europe.

The team of Eternity. They supply preserved roses for 3 years now. They are currently supplying the US, but they will soon also supply Europe.

Ruud Smit and Juan Naranjo of Floritec. For the first time, they are exhibiting at the Proflora and they are showcasing 30 new varieties in santini and sprays (all tested in Colombia). Soon, they will introduce new material, including some disbud varieties for the Colombian market. These varieties will be on the market commercially in 2020.

Salaiman Aloqaibi of United Flowers in front of The Elite Flowers, the farm of which he imports the most flowers from. Aloqaibi was visiting the show.

Karen Silva of Andrean Field. They grow over 20 types of flowers in Bogota, on 40 ha and mainly export to Japan, The Netherlands, Australia and the USA.

Lady Orega, Loren Ballesterez of HughesNet – a internet provider for farmers throughout Colombia and othe rLatin American countries.

Fillippo Faccioli and Andrea Ginex of Myplant & Garden were also visiting the show. Myplant & Garden is an Italian ornamental show that will be held the end of February in Milan.

At Montecarlo, they won the 3rd prize in the category Best booth in show. They grow hydrangea, ruscus and solidago on 4ha and work with several small farmers. They export their products to Europe, US and Asia.

Diego Castano and Paula Tobon of Bioflora. This flower eye and paint supplies share the booth with Vaselife, the hydration solution provider.

Orlando Suarez and Marjorie Morales of Golden Flowers, an importer in Miami. They represent 40 farms and are doing business with them since their estabishment, 28 years ago. They mainly supply wholesalers and small supermarkets and a few e-commerce websites in the US.

The team of ProColombia. This organization promotes export investments and tourism in Colombia.

Andres Beltran of Real Carga. At the show, they presented their new brand image.

Harold Garzon and Jonathan Blamco of A&P de Colombia.

Vanessa Cheever of Tecnodor presenting their telemetreologico system. This system connects all the variables from the environment and soil and sends it via internet to the cloud. In this way, the grower can monitor and set alerts on his phone so that he can take action right away. The system works both on a solar panel and on electricity.

John Bedoya and Miguel Vasquez of Grupo Vegaflor. They recently started to grow the Kalanchoes of Danziger. “We are now the only ones producing them in Medellin.”

Edison Salazar of Grupo HOH presenting their Osmosis system.

Sjenn Kragtwijk and Erik Spek of Jan Spek Rozen next to their red rose variety Hearts. This rose, with a heart shape is becoming a real success in Ecuador and is starting to be picked up more and more in Colombia, Spek explains.

Juan Gabriel Gomez of Candelaria Flowers. He grows hydrangeas on 7ha in Medellin and is looking for more varieties to grow. His main market is Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The team of Flowers House Group, an Ecuadorian rose farm.

Nick MacDonald of Vaselife, Diego Castano and Sebastian Guerra of Bioflora.

Natalia Uribe and Fernan Ramirez of San Francisco Gardens. They grow hydrangeas in the mountains in Antique on 27-35 ha.

Jose Javier of Flores Rionegro. This lily grower also grows pompon, gerbera’s and more varieties in the Rionegro region and mainly supplies the US market.

The team of Dicoplast supplies plastic plug trays, floors, buckets, flower post and more.

Lorena Aristizabal and Laura Echavarria of Mas Air.

David Bojanini and Monica Tamayo of Sky Flowers. They grow and export hydrangeas and lopidium to mainly Russia, the Netherlands and the US.

William Hogewoning of J.P. Hogewoning, Maarten Alkemade and Leonardo Ponce of Alkemade visiting the show.

Augusto Solano, Asocolflores President, and Christina Uricoechea, Proflora Director. In 1991, they organized their first show with 40 companies and now it has grown to an international show with over 200 companies.

The team of US Associations (SAF, PMA, AFIF, WFFSA, CalFlowers) Asocolflores and Expoflores just had their Flower Summit meeting, which they organize 2 times a year, discussing the opportunities and options to increase the US flower consumption.

Halley David and Adam Porges of All Seasons Flower, a UK flower importer, visiting the show.

Diego Valendia and Andres Hernandez of Turflor proudly presenting the three awards (1st 2nd and 3rd prize) in the carnation category – grower.

The Dutch ambassador to Colombia Jeroen Roodenburg visting the team of Denkers, presenting together with Interandina.

Andres Olier and Carolina Merchan of Don Eusebjo presenting their tinted carnations collection.

The callas of supplied by Gloeckner- one of their best-selling flowers in Colombia.

Katherine Diaz and Liliana Vargas of Kuehne and Nagel.

A new red variety of Continental Breeding; Bromo, planted in Ecuador, Colombia, Kenya and several other countries.

Marc Molitor of Mecaflor presenting their hand tied bouquet making machine.

Nancy Montealegre and Maria Venegas of Alexandra Farms.

Ole Faarbaek Jensen of Innovaflora, with two commercial brands Verdissimo and Florever. First he was responsible for Verdissimo only but is now responsible globally. They now have 3 factories and 4 distribution centers and have become world’s largest preserved flower produce, explains Ole.

The team of Vermeille, a preserved flowers producer that is part of Benchmark.

Javier Franco and Eduardo Chiriboga of Esmeralda farms.

German Posada and Camila Mosquera of Latin Flowers.

Leo Quik of Quik’s Farms was also visiting the show.

Chrysanthemums at The Elite Flowers booth.

Guillermo Mahecha of Dekker Chrysanten proudly promiting their awarded variety.

A bird's eye view of the conference hall

Flowers of Colombia find their final destination in over 100 countries worldwide

Right after the opening ceremony, the minister of agriculture Andres Valencia (fourth from left) walked the show and talked to a few exhibitors. Here the honour is Deliflor's, with from left to right Andres Saenz (with Ceniflores), Peter Persoon (director Deliflor), Luis Carlos Uribe (Capiro), the minister, Carlos Manuel Uribe (president of Capiro, president of the board of Asocoflores), Manuel Marin (former director Deliflor), Juan Davids ... (commercial director Deliflor Latin America) and David Marin, (director Deliflor Latin America).

Peter Persoon together with the minister, Andres Valencia.

About half of the worldwide production of alstroemeria is found in Colombia. In this field, Dutch breeder Könst Alstroemeria is one of the most prominent players.

Andreas and Catalina Arango, siblings and second generation heading the family business Flores del Este. This grower started off in 1999, produces over 5 million stems of hydrangea on a yearly basis, and exports them to 20 countries worldwide. Their main market is Japan.

Suasuque, a Colombian alstroemeria grower selling by the brand name Perfection. Suasuque means something like 'different light' in one of the native Indian languages. On the photo Daniel Velez and Cristine Gomez.

Jeroen Oudheusden with FSI (Floriculture Sustainable Initiative) together with Jeroen van der Hulst, KLM. The Dutch airlines company celebrates it's 100th anniversary, which was commemorated with a major party welcoming around 300 guests.

As ever, Chrysal is broadening its product assortment. In particular two products were highlighted: Viva, a supplement specifically developed for chrysanthemums to be added to the irrigation water a few days before cutting; and a plastic packaging material for transporting hydrangea, making the use of a watering plugs no longer necessary. On the photo Victoria Cortes, Peter Vriend, Paula Bermudez, and Karen Piramanrique.

IP Handlers, a Dutch company handling large quantities of flowers, fruits and vegetables. At the Proflora the company was represented by Tatiana Graham, Bob Helsloot, and Danny Loos.

The team of FedEx, world wide know for its delivery services, and also offering airfreight services. Among others, FedEx offers a daily flower cargo from Bogota to Miami to Medelin and back to Bogota.

Flores la Conchita, grower of (amongst others) calla, alstroemeria, ranunculus, and hydrangea. From left to right Adriana Uribe, Yolanda Vargas, Aura Garcia, and Santiago Restrepo.

Meet Laura, Juliana, Karoll, and Janet, representing Singha Farms. This grower of roses and hydrangea in Bogota.

If you look for 'Ecuadorian' roses from Colombia, come to Matina. In order to obtain maximum quality and spread risks, all four locations numbering 25 hectares total have their own post harvest processing stations. At the photo Jorge Ortego and Alberto Bermudez.

Flores Funza has been in operation for 42 years now, and grows alstroemeria and carnations. Recently, the grower boasting around 240 hectares of production area added scabiosa to the assortment.

Colibri Flowers is one of the larger carnation and spray-carnation growers in Colombia. Stems are mostly shipped to the US, but also Japan and Europe are big markets to Colibri. On the photo Martin Uribe, Leidy Castro, and Andres Toro.

HilverdaKooij, soon to be HilverdeFlorist due to merging with breeder of gerbera Florist Holland, is one of the suppliers of starting material to the Colombian growers (notably alstroemeria). From left to right Alexander Osorio, Marius Kooij, Daniel Tellez, and Jorge Calderon.

Marvin Grootendorst and Fabio Quintero with Evanthia. The breeder & seed production company is relatively new to the Colombian market. Their matthiola varieties are especially well received, Marvin tells us.

Royal FloraHolland is the largest flower auction in the world based in Holland. The cooperation consists of primarily Dutch growers, quite a few African farms, and a handful of growers from elsewhere. Evelyn Carcamo represents FloraHolland in Colombia, holding office in Bogota, and is mostly their (at both the show and in the market) to make contact and be in touch with the growers, pointing them to the possibilities this major market place has to offer.

Growers willing to ship flowers to anywhere in the States can count on UPS. On the continent the forwarder is everywhere, anywhere, within 48 hours. From left to right Angee Arevalo, Clara Silvia, and Alisson Prieto.

Smurfit Kappa has been present in Colombia for three quarters of century now. The company produces boxes growers need to ship their flowers, and their services are widely used. 'For we know logistics', Jessica Varga, Jorge Cubillos, and Alejandro Parra tell us.

Ulf Jantzen with DHL. The yellow-red is know all over the world, and offers, among others, cargo fleights from Bogota to Miami 6 times per week. Recently the new route Panama-Lima-Quito-Panama was established.

US based United Cargo operates many cargo flights all over the world. In Colombia, Mildred Garcia is the one keeping contact with all the growers. Terry Phillips helps overseeing the business from 'home', that is, Houston.

Carlos Bejarano at La Conejera Flores. This Colombian grower produces carnations, and ships to customers in Europa, Asia, and the USA.

In the 'Flower Grower' booth 8 different growers were presenting their flowers. Their presence at the fair was made possible & paid for by the ministry of agriculture, helping these smaller farms to be able to attend. Andrés Otero with Bgonima Flowers is one of them. This grower produces hydrangea and solidago, and is specialized in tinting and painting the flowers.

Guapante is specialized in cymbidium & a variety of tropical orchids. The farm is managed by Ruben Rivera.

Elisabeth Ospina and John Ramirez represent Flowers Party, a grower of different types of flowers. The grower specialized in making bouquets.

In Medellin, Musa grows about everything: flowers, greens, and even coffee! From left to right: Alex Rivillas, Sandra Ospina, and Pablo Zapata.

Green Flowers is a new company in the business, kicking off only two years ago. Luis Acosta, the company's director, is overseeing the production of different types of foliage, roses, and carnation.

Manaure Flowers is also a young company, and produces the red rose 'Freedom'. This rose, a Rosen Tantau variety, is the most grown red on the continent. Alexander Avilan manages the farm exporting to customers situated in Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Kathleen Caulfield is assisting, amongst others with translating.

Green goddesses at El Eden follajes, a grower of different types of greens at the Sabana de Bogota. The ladies, mother and daughter both named Danya, are in charge of selling the eucaliptus, ferns, liriope, cocculus, ruscus, and more.

John Tabarquino and José Figueroa at Aurora Flowers, which is specialized in tropical flowers. Together with some other growers in Colombia, they produce the most fantastic type of flowers rarely seen in most other parts of the world. Like heliconia, of which you here see a few different varieties.

Jenny, Helmuth, and Sonia manage Saga Flowers, a medium size company (that is, according to Colombian standards) producing roses. The farm is situated in Zipaquirá, a town famous for it's Salt Cathedral. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Cathedral_of_Zipaquir%C3%A1

Broekhof is providing growers with sleeves, packaging, and decorative materials, and has been in Colombia since 2016. Back then, an office was opened in Medellin. Since May this year, a new facility was opened in Bogota as well. From left to right Yulia Prito, Frans de Vilder, and Maria del Pilar.

Air Canada, at the show represented by Rob Flood, Johanne Cadorette, Ocean Pan, and Lindsey Giraldo.

Carmel Flowers was among the first growers in the Medellin region, and grew to producing no less than 92 varieties of chrysanthemum. On the photo Christina Fernandez and Juan David Cruz.

Equipment for cold storage growers often find at Global Sensors de Colombia, here represented by Zulay Castro and Mariam Pastrana.

Ander Pedroza at eBiopacking, offering biodegradable packaging solutions to flower growers, food production & processing companies and more.

Aerosan does all sorts of cargo handling, from flowers to animals to passenger luggage. The Ecuadorian based company is represented by Maria Galindo and Freddy Guerra.

The team of Ali, a cargo agency in Colombia helping out many growers in all their needs with regard to exporting & shipping out flowers from Colombia.

Milena Giraldo, Stefanie Osorio, and Sandre Melo at Koen Pack. At the show, the ladies introduced a a new biodegradable sleeve to the Colombian market. Some of the representatives are not on the photo; a shame, because 'for the first time the entire team of Miami, Ecuador and Colombia is here together'.

Logiztik Alliance, according to David the Haas they are in the top 5 in Colombia (and number 1in Ecuador). At the fair, the company presented a new app, enabling customers to track & trace cargo. Left to right Jorge Garces, David de Haas, Consuelo Baquero, and Juan Carlos Baquero.

Panalpina could not be missed, since it had three different booths, all highlighting a different field of operation of this major cargo shipping company. At this one, Alexandra Ayala and Johanna Jimenez highlight the solutions with regards to shipping perishables.

Natural Flowers Colombia consists of seven different Colombian growers mostly (but not exclusively) specialized in growing ánd colouring carnation. At the show, the growers were represented by Maria Ocampo and Germán Rojas.

Pedro José Saenz from Analpes, technical supplier of all sorts of machinery growers require. Among others, motorized cable lines making it possible to transport the flowers on the farms automatically are produced by Analpes.

In Colombia, Cargolink represents Aero Mexico, Korean Air Cargo, and of course Cargolux, Vanessa Cadaya explains.

Jardines de los Andes celebrates 50 years of flower production. Thereby this farm is one of the absolute first growers in Colombia. And still growing stong & blooming, the oak tree filled with charmelia - a flower almost exclusively grown by Jardines de los Andes - symbolizes. Jeronimo and Juan Camilo Herrera, brothers, manage the company their parents started. Denisse Byfield is in charge of the marketing, Kees Gram (right) is from breeding company Royal van Zanten, and is aquinted with these guys since the 80's.

At Royal van Zanten (RvZ), about any grower should be able to find something to his liking. In Colombia, the breeder is especially strong in alstroemeria: around 50% of all stems produced have RvZ-origins. In Colombia, the company recently opened a new trial location for its chrysanthemum varieties. Left to right is Kees Gram, Cristina Lopes, Jeroen van der Hulst (with FlowerWatch), Jairo Perez (from Plantas y Bulbos, agent of RvZ and Breier Cross in Colombia), and Luis Mariano Botero (owner of Plantas & Bulbos representative of Breier and Van Zanten) .

Zandra Duarte and Ruth Espinosa at Propagar Plantas, one of the two carnation breeders of Colombia.

Ilan Breier and Luis Mariano Botero, with Breier Cross, an Israeli breeder of carnations with a big market share in Colombia and Japan. As with the Royal van Zanten' varieties, theirs are brought to the growers by Plantas y Bulbos.

The team of Royal de Ruiter, one of the major rose breeding companies worldwide. Their varieties are well known in both of the flower production hubs worldwide, in Eastern Africa and in South America.

When it comes to roses, Italy does well by sending NIRP. Massimiliano Rapetti is the breeder in Italy, Carlos Castillo is bringing the varieties to the growers. Café del Mar is but one of the many new varieties recently launched.

Two growers op tropical flowers and foliage, Napy and Palmitropicales, are part of the Tropiflowers Group. At Proflora, Zully Saenz, Paula Lince, and Johana Betancur where proud to present the assortment.

AmeriJet has been in Colombia since 2005, and offers cargo shipping services by road, air, and sea. At the photo Maritza Martinez, Katherine Prieto, and Gloria Clemencia.

G8 is a group of 13 different Colombian growers, together boosting over 500 hectares of production, employing over 6000 people, and producing over 400 varieties. Right before the start of Proflora, the group launched this short video.

Magnifique Rose has been a rose grower for 40 years now, but started to manufacture preserved roses only four years ago. Since this year, they've actually started to export, the brothers (and second generation) Camilo and Fabian Herrera proudly explain.

Valley Springs is a grower with 130 ha of hydrangea.
That makes it the biggest grower & exporter of this product in the country. Amongst other, Alejandro Montoya and Juan Uribe were present at Proflora to promote the brand".

Wilexport has been around for 10 years already, and consists of a group of foliage growers. At the fair, Wilexport was obviously present to look for new & more export possibilities.

Plantador Colombia is an agent for quite a few breeders, as well for the wondrous rootstocks off ProRoot. On the phote Aviram Krell and Ana Benavides (Plantador), together with ... and Peter van der Pol (ProRoot).

Ana Benavides together with John Kordes (Kordes Roses), both proud of being awarded the golden medal in the category 'best new rose' with this new variety, the Queens Crown.

Plazoleta is a grower of a wide variety of flowers, notably of alstroemeria, statice, limonium, solidago, and more. From left to right Maria Cuadros, German Gomez, and Gloria Santiesteban.

Claudia Garcia represents both Trinity Farms as well as Louisiana Farms. The former is a rose grower from Bogota producing 40% reds and 60% different colours; Louisiana Farms, equally from Bogota, is a grower of carnations, boosting around 80 different varieties.

Benchmark Growers actually is a group of farms, together making for one of largest flower farms in the world. In the States, the same group is known by the name of Queen's Flowers, importing 'over 500 million stems of flowers every year' (website Queen's Flowers). Manuela López is a sales representative, here talking to some customers.

Yeiferson Urrego, Paula Calderón, and Ricardo Samper with Flores de Serrezuela. This farm was established back in '85, is now headed by Ricardo Samper (second generation), and grows roses and carnations in Bogota. The grower is specialized in roses ('Freedom'), carnation, and spray-carnation.

Rumhora is a grower of foliage employing around 200 people. It's a family business which started of in 2004, and is headed by Carlos Castro (in the middle). Ruscus and other types of greens & bouquet fillers are produced in five different locations, all grouped together at about one hour driving from Bogota.

Andalucia is well known for & one of the largest producers of spray carnations (around 25 hectares). Here the ladies (Aura Naranjo and ... ) receive some customers.

Blackriver Flowers is located in the Medellin region, together with Bogota two of the regions where the flower production is concentrated. The farms boosts around 45 hectares of hydrangea production, and also specialized in colouring the flowers in about any color you can think of. Left to right Andres Garcia, Natalia Yepes, and Jhonatan Quintero.

David Quesada at Inverpalmas, a farm growing lots of carnations (15 hectares), mini-carnations (10 ha), and roses (15 ha).

With 80 hectares op greenhouses, NatuFlora is one of the big guys in roses and alstroemeria. Amongst many others, they produce this 'Ecuadorian' rose, meaning exceptionally long, big, and heavy. Left to right Nicolas Bermudez, Patricia Florez, and Amy Desperito.

Interestingly, some varieties might have a vase life up to 30% longer after being for three weeks at sea, than the same flower being transported by air freight. On the condition cooling is properly managed, meaning constant temperatures and humidity levels are pertained. Agroideas is one of a view companies who can do that, and do so frequently, Juan Yazbek and Martha Castillo explain.

Since May this year, LOT Cargo started operating cargo flights from Miami to Warsaw. From left to right Fernanda Domingos, Roberto Parrague, Diana Poverda, Francisca Thomson, and Malgorzata Rowinski.

K&M Handling ships flowers (among others) from Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, and handles distribution throughout the States. At Proflora, general manager Karel Alvarez (on the left) together with a big team was present to promote the K&M air & sea fright solutions.

Bibiana Munoz, Tatiana Carillo, and Milena Cobos with ITC Wilchess. Tatiana is the daughter if Ms Wilches, who started this Colombian sleeve manufacturing company.

Claudia Paez, Alex Guerrens, and Tania Alvarado with Turkish Cargo, offering cargo flights from Quito straight to Istanbul.

ADN Verde is a Colombian producer of biological crop protection. All products are 'green', that is, based on plant abstractions & containing no chemicals.

Jairo Gomez, together with Mariela Calderon and Gina Gonzalez, with Gomez Flores y Folliajes. This grower produces many types of foliage: mainly ruscus, but also liriopa, cocculos, eucaliptus, pittosporum, and more. As you can see, Gomez also knows how to tint leaves.

Inversiones Montanel is one of the view lily growers in Colombia. Interestingly, since Bogota is close to the equator, the farm is able to produce flowers year round. On the photo Laura Arboleda and Juan Manuel Alonso.

Soléfarms is a Colombian flower grower, but also importing and distributing them from Miami. The farm is part of Queens Group, the biggest group of grower in the country. At the photo Yohana Martinez together with Marcelo Rusca from Roots Peru (an Ecuadorian grower) visiting.

Phytotec grows around 10 different exclusive types of flowers. At the fair they were awarded different prices, one with a new Bells of Ireland-variety and one with a new Stars of Bethlehem-variety.

A proud Andrew Lee - it's not difficult to guess why - with Gloeckner, a Norh American company known for its broad selection of seeds, young plants, bulbs, and grower supplies. Primarily serving the field in North-America, the company is well established in the South American market as well.

The team of Sunrise Flowers, the new trade mark by Sabanilla, a grower of hydrangea and Snapdragon in Colombia. This new name was revealed right here at Proflora.

Especially with the larger cutflower producers, the automated flower processing lines of Bercomex are well know. Through their merger with Potveer, the company is well established within Colombia. At the photo a part of the team, with in the middle Luis Enrique representing the Chia Group, one of the largest growers in Colombia and the largest customer of Bercomex in the South-Americas.

From the conferenca hall's entrance you could see the brand new Hilton hotel, where many of the international exhibitors stayed.

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Proflora 2019, Bogota, Colombia