Colombia annually exports more than 250 thousand tons of high quality flowers to more than 100 countries, supplying supermarkets, flower shops, hotels and homes in countries like the United States, Japan and England, but what’s behind the growing demand for Colombian flowers?
Colombia is the leading supplier of flowers to the United States and the second largest international exporter after the Netherlands. Colombian flowers are highly cherished for their variety, color and quality, and may be seen gracing private and public spaces around the world.
Colombia is the leading flower producer and exporter in Latin America. For more than fifty years, Colombia has been offering the largest diversity of flowers for export in the region. This success stems from the fact that it has a consolidated group of growers, suppliers and service providers, as well as top logistics facilities and the advantage of strategically located farm clusters.
To inspire
Flowers are much more than mere seed producers, they elicit a myriad of feelings and elevate the human spirit. The single purpose of the Colombian flower is to inspire. Today, after five decades of industrial floriculture in Colombia, its flowers are prized in international markets and command prime slots in supermarkets stands and flowers shops around the world.
When purchasing a Colombian flower, in any country, buyers can rest assured they are getting a product with unmatched characteristics that will inspire love, passion, celebration, and even creativity; it’s been proven that flowers awaken the senses and increase workplace productivity.
Colombia grows 60 different flower species and around 1,600 varieties. Their assorted colors, shapes and sizes inspire international fashion trends and adorn the most exclusive commercial showcases, luxury hotels and restaurants throughout the planet.
Sustainability
The Colombian floricultural sector is also a world leader in sustainability, with the help of “Florverde® Sustainable Flowers”. Today, 40% of Colombia’s exports bear this certification, which audits growing practices and contributes towards continuous improvement in the value chain– and this percentage is continually growing. “Florverde® Sustainable Flowers” is the second oldest flower certification standard; it is recognized as a resembling scheme by Global G.A.P for good agricultural and environmental practices and holds a mutual recognition with the Rainforest Alliance.
Thanks to the “Sustainability Route”, an initiative from Asocolflores (the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters, which brings best social, labor, environmental and quality practices to farms and ensures sustainability in floriculture), over the last five years energy consumption has been reduced by 61%, pesticides by 43%, while 44% of water has come from rainwater.
Asocolflores members have managed through joint efforts to bring home-financing solutions to more than 29 thousand flower-growing families, as well as access to quality education for 13 thousand young boys and girls; and another 2 thousand, all children of floricultural workers, have benefited from cultural and sports training programs.
Durability
A third characteristic element of Colombian flowers is their durability: alll the knowledge acquired throughout the production process, the efficiency in developing new varieties, a respect for intellectual property, the constant updating in hybridization mechanisms and the high standards of Colombian flowers, set within the framework of the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals, all contribute towards ensuring a high quality product.
The quality of Colombian flowers is so high, that, for example, after 25 days at sea to a port in Japan, they will still provide another 15 days of splendor, color and size in a vase, which is substantially more compared to flowers from other countries.
Diversity, sustainability and durability are the 3 main characteristics with which the flowers of Colombia contribute towards innovation in fashion and progress towards sustainable development, inspiring throughout: Flowers of Colombia, diversity that inspires.
Augusto Solano,
President of Asocolfores
