“ Every day I am scared to get to the office and chip numbers ” , say Ecuadorian rose grower Xavier Beltran ofFlorecal . But he is not the only one . Nearly all flower or plant cultivator are experiencing a drastic decrease in demand . It is readable that during the COVID-19 crisis , blossom are not on consumers ' minds . Growers are anxious , and recall about what might come worries them even more . We had a talk with several agriculturist all over the world and enquire them how they are dealing with the situation . All in all , we see that they all seek to remain positive , hope for better fourth dimension and do their utmost best to control the health and safety of their employees .
Xavier Beltran and Andre Ruigrok at the IFTF 2019
humble demandFlowers are still going out , but the demand has decreased sharply all over the world . Many growers are throwing away thousands of flowers every day as requirement is low and freightage capacity grim .
In a Twitter post by Ecuadorian exportation affiliation Expoflores , it is shown how the floriculture industry is affected by COVID-19 . " Sales from Ecuador are down by 80 % . We are fearless and we will fight to get out of this " , their post says . In the video , they show the unsold flowers at the farm in Ecuador as well as the unsold flowers at the auction in the Netherlands .
sphere floricultor en#crisispor COVID-19 . Las ventas se han reducido en un 80 % . Somos valientes y lucharemos por salir de esta#emergencia.@Produccion_Ecu@AgriculturaEc@ottosonnenh@mariapaularomo@abgmadero@Lenin@amartinezec@jabueno78@MinTrabajoEc@XavierLazoG@IESSecpic.twitter.com/i06h0Hf4hJ
Jose Azout ofAlexandra Farmsin Colombia also sees a drastic lessening in demand as many of their roses are used for effect and nuptials – and these have all been cancelled . “ Only 30 percent of our orders will go out this week and it expect like even less will go out next week ” , he say .
Jose Azout of Alexandra Farms at the IFTF in the Netherlands
Roberto Bonanno , General Manager ofThe Flower Hubin Kenya adds that gloomy demand ( which is 60 % down for them this week ) is now combined with the problem of capability . “ Flights are being cancel and schedules reduced on a casual basis so any purchase order that we have may not even get off the earth ! ”
Joyce Muchiri and Roberto Bonanno at the IPM Shanghai
rose wine grower Ivan Freeman ofUhuru Flowersin Kenya also stresses the major trouble in airfreight . " There are so many cancel flights or flights with reduced capacity . ” Fortunately , they are still operating ( probably one of the few ) , but orders are down . “ We are probably at 50 % of normal and only because we have such a wide grasp of markets ( more than 70 countries ) . ” But many Kenyan farms even stopped production and are sending home worker . More than 1,000 farm workers have been sent home , according to anarticlepublished in The Star .
Ivan Freeman at the IFTEX 219 deliver the golden awarding he received in the category received roses
Not only Kenyan growers are facing these freightage challenge . Nicolas ofThe awing Flowers of Victoria , a world-wide exporter of fresh cut orchidaceous plant and plant life from Thailand , is apportion with melodic phrase freight problems . “ The most difficult for us now is to find flights . Most of the airway have decrease flying , so it ’s really complex at the here and now on logistics . ” According to Nicolas , all has changed since the past two weeks . “ We have 50 % less orders and probably the same regarding inquiries . " presently they still provide a turn in Asia and the Middle East , and still a bit in the US , but it decreased a lot . " Fortunately , we can see China re - start business and we have a second of need from there . I will develop a specific offering for the Chinese market ” .
On the left : Kookik Chollada Chaichitathorn . On the rightfield : Cattleya Greenwich .
Also for Native American rise grower Narendra Patil ofSoex Flora , besides the global low demand , transportation flowers has become a challenge as well . “ There are only a smattering of air hose that are left and they have raised freightage charges a mickle . ” He has also seen domesticated demand going down . “ All the nuptials and events are squall off . ” ( Read morehereon lower demand in India . )
Part of the squad of Soex Flora at the IFTF in the Netherlands ( Narendra Patil in the middle)In the US , California orchid grower Toine Overgaag , President ofWesterlay Orchids , who mostly supplies to market stores all over California as well to the big metropolis more to the east , like Denver , Seattle , Salt Lake City , and Phoenix is seeing demand lessen . “ Most rules of order have been canceled for the next 2 weeks with more cancellations and perhaps for longer . Our principal customers , grocery stores , are trying to keep up with demand for basics . ”
Toine Overgaag in the greenhouse
administer with the virus on farm levelIn all countries of the cultivator we speak with , there are confirm corona cases . Therefore , proactive measurements are take , like educating stave and setting up washing and sanitation place . Also at hydrangea and hellebore growerHeugerin Germany for example , one of the rural area with the in high spirits amount of substantiate COVID-19 guinea pig , precautionary measurements are being taken . “ Our biggest fear is that we will see infections among our staff and our faculty will get quarantine . We have split our faculty in four different teams and place home whoever is not perfectly needed to have some resources left for that case ” , possessor Josef Heuger says .
The Heuger family at the IPM Essen 2020 in Essen , Germany ( Josef Heuger on the right wing )
FearThere is in reality not much growers can do at the moment . Several enterprisingness have rise to advance flower cut-rate sale ( see ourarticlepublished yesterday ) , but as world-wide restriction take hold not much is go out to do besides wait and hoping . Many fear for what will fall .
At Heuger , output is still on schedule . “ We get supplied with pots , dirt and whatever is needed for production and we are still shipping to customers . What this will do to our diligence I guess nobody knows . There is a fortune fear and anxiety among our customers . Having almost no sales event and then not enough resources to keep production going is like a one - two clout that will send a peck of businesses to the floor , and not all will be strong enough to stand up again . What the government or central bank can do in a world that is already drown in debt I do n’t know . If it would be so easy to print money and help out everybody that has need for it , Venezuela would be the nirvana nation . But all that Day of Judgement talking is not helping anybody . We also depend a lot on seasonal workers that we might not be able to get any more a few weeks from now ” , Heuger says .
On top of that , they are expecting the global restriction to be push up . “ It ’s a crazy situation and the worst is we do n’t know where and when it will end ” , Beltran says . Also Nicolas is afraid that orders will go down in the coming weeks . “ More and more countries are closed everyday . ”
“ Colombian raiser have a number of a breather due to the note value of the Colombian peso , but without a doubt this is a crisis ” , aver Aviram Krell ofPlantec , a congresswoman of over 5 rose breeder in Latin America with their substructure in Ecuador . “ Luckily this is not the first crisis this sphere has faced , and as with any crisis we all act like this one is the remainder , while in Sojourner Truth every crisis will pass , we just need to stay strong until it does . ”
Carlos and Aviram Krell ( father and boy ) of Plantec at the Flor Expo Ecuador
What to do now?Not tending to the plant is not an choice , therefore many are take forethought of their plants as much as potential . “ Then , when the season of production comes back we will have a better product ” , says Beltran . “ We harvest what we need for the next day and a spot of additional to see if we are favorable and find where to trade them . ”
What Krell is run into take place is that some node have requested to get their mini plants originally now to take ‘ reward ’ of the situation . “ They see this as an opportunity to hit older plants and varieties now since most of the production is being discarded , and using this time to prepare the new plants and diversity that will be in production six months from now . "
Alle knoppen eraf . Het is een bizar gezicht om een gewas zonder knoppen te zien staan . Voor de omwonende#klagersis er we een voordeel . Er brandt geen#assimilatielichtmeer.pic.twitter.com / ogTNJrovOv
A sad picture from a agriculturalist out of the Netherlands , Van der Ende Roses . " It ’s odd to see the crop without head . For the beleaguer " complainers " : there is no stilted lightning any longer . "
In the meantime , it ’s all about render or servicing the customers as much as possible and hoping for honorable times . They are all in the same sauceboat and everyone in the chain understands the position their provider or client is in . “ We treasure very much whatever order we get from our customer , for we interpret they are struggling as much as we are ” , says Beltran .
