Flower farms tackle latest threat to peak season exports

Demand for longer lasting flowers among European consumers has added a new twist to the lucrative horticulture export business — dampening growers’ expectations in the run up to the peak season that begins mid this month.

Industry players say Europe’s retailers are increasingly demanding that exporters guarantee produce vase-life of at least three and a half days – or be ready to compensate the buyers for failure to do so.

Horticulture growers say the vase-life – the period that flowers take before wilting – largely depends on handling and warned that demand for extended period of freshness will require huge investments in the supply chain – including training of personnel to handle the produce better during harvesting, packaging and transport.

Paid on delivery

Exporters say the vase life challenge has its roots in the shop floors where consumers are demanding that flowers stay fresh for a “guaranteed” period of time or they be fully compensated for failure to meet the standard.

Under the new buying system, flowers are also scanned and growers paid only for those that last the guaranteed period. This is unlike in the past when suppliers were paid on delivery.

Floralife, a quality assurance firm, reckons that Africa is likely to find it difficult competing for vase-life with European growers who are better equipped to extend the life of their produce.

“Unlike before when supermarkets took care of flowers once they got onto the shelves, it is now the responsibility of the grower to ensure that his flowers are safe that far,” said Floralife’s technical manager John Kihia .

Long vase life is usually the product of handling that involves cold rooms storage, transportation and on the shelves.

That process also involves feeding the flowers on a specialized diet to stay alive until they are sold to consumers.

Though Kenyan growers are already being trained in flower handling for enhanced quality, some industry players see the new demand as yet another non-tariff barrier that Europe is erecting to prevent the free flow of goods from outside its borders.

“Growers in Africa must ensure that their systems are right, taking the shortest time possible between harvesting, processing, sizing, bunching and sleeving,” said Mr Kihia.

To secure the vase life of flowers, he said, all these processes should be done in cold rooms and transported in insulated Lorries for transport to the airport.

Research has consistently indicated that vase-life gives consumers the biggest satisfaction signalling that suppliers who deliver longer lasting produce get the most market.

“As part of the annual audit process, growers will go through a basic, intermediate and advanced level of learning on product life for certification through the Directorate of Industrial Training,” said Ms Jane Ngige, the chief executive of the Kenya Flower Council.

Of the basic requirements in the flower business, vase-life is the most critical besides smell and colour.

The “enhanced product life training” is part of the value chain strengthening aimed at safeguarding the Sh70 billion a year industry that suffered a major hit during last year’s global economic recession.

The audit is also reaction to the global financial crisis that has pushed the flower business further up the ranks of luxurious products.

Those still making purchases are revising their expectations.

Under the vase-life guarantee rules, the grower is responsible for 70 per cent of the product while the seller and the buyer take the rest.

That means that the grower must have an interest in how the importer and the consumer handles the product to avoid losses.

Flower sales are expected to rise beginning next week as the world marks Valentine’s Day on February 14 and remain robust in the next four months.

Training critical

Ms Ngige said the training is critical to the growth of a local flower market, after an unimpressive performance in 2009 linked to depressed global sales.

She is cautiously optimistic that unlike in 2009 when the global financial crisis and a biting winter conspired to leave flower traders with the worst Valentine Day, the market will be brighter this year.

“It is too early to estimate sales but orders are looking up as people “prepare to brighten up their lives after a dull 2009”.

Last year, Kenya’s foreign exchange earnings from flower sales declined by 30 per cent to stand at Sh30 billion compared with Sh43 billion in 2008.

The sector has however, bounced back in the last three months, supported by an increase in export value of cut flowers, fruits and vegetables in key European market.

In October, for instance, some 14,742 tonnes of flowers worth Sh4 billion were sold – representing a growth of between 16.5 per cent and 6.9 per cent.

Kenya also opened a lab and distribution centre in Nairobi in December last year find new ways of extending product life.

Products for post-harvest handling that have initially been imported will be locally packaged.

This will benefit small scale growers and local flower sellers who can purchase small sachets.

Elvis Wainaina, the chairman of the Flower Vendors Association, said that since the vendors and the KFC started promoting flower culture locally two years ago, there has been a remarkable improvement in the business.

But the Nairobi City Council is yet to allocate flower vendors space to conduct trade without being harassed by council askaris.

Only vendors in Westlands have been allocated space but KFC is negotiating for flower kiosks in the city centre.

Plans are also under way to set up such kiosks at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

“This is the way it is in Europe where flower kiosks are found all over. JKIA is the first place for visitors to know they are entering a top flower producing country,” said the KFC CEO.