After a four year hiatus Florexpo 2022 opened its doors to a floral extravaganza that will not soon be forgotten.
Here are some of the comments that I heard from both visitors and exhibitors.
“Best show we have ever attended”, “Floral quality in all stands was the best we have ever seen”
“What a difference after four years. “, “They have outdone themselves this year.”
This semi annual event was delayed due to Covid and if the large crowds were any indication, there was pent up demand for people getting together once again, face to face, without masks covering them.
On my first day there I traveled to Connectiflor / E.G. Hill breeding operation where I got to learn how new varieties are made. I even got the opportunity to try it myself.
The process is quite elaborate and takes many steps to complete. It takes about four years to take a new variety from an idea to a flower that is in commercial production. Growers test thousands of new combinations to find the best new varieties in hopes of finding one or two that will make the transition from selection to production. I also had the chance to visit Rosa Prima one of best and largest growers in Ecuador and there you can visit their test greenhouse. This is “Candyland” for flower lovers. Imagine yourself in a 4 acre greenhouse high in the Andean mountains surrounded by row and row of newborn roses. Each plant posing with its new blooms reaching up into the sunlight hoping that they will be selected, much like a litter of puppies jumping and barking waiting to be adopted.
Our Host invited us to walk the isles and select our favorites. We were then treated to a fabulous breakfast in this wonderland.
The Next morning I was treated to a special tour of the now famous Jet Fresh Flowers by none other than owner Mike Black himself.
This boutique rose farm has taken employee happiness and care to new level. With “Happy and Hippy” being the roots of this new style company.
Natural Roses, garden roses, painted roses, dyed roses and more are what you will find here. A highlight of the tour was the employee laundry where the employees can bring in their laundry from home and Jet Fresh has them washed, dried and folded for free.
On to FlorExpo 2022
The stands were grand and the quality and quantity of flowers was amazing. The halls were full and people were happy and that is makes a good exhibition. This event is not about educational programs or how to better your social media SEO. No, this is a true trade fair where business is the focus and conducted. This is a rose show and there were so many to see it was hard to determine which you liked the best. I will let my pictures in my attached youtube channel video tell the story.
The “Bar Talk” was all about the situation in Amsterdam where many flower farmers are either going bankrupt or just not planting any crops this season. The price of heating fuel has exploded and growers realize if there is no relief then many cannot afford to continue. This is a very fluid situation and the outcome is very unclear so I will go to Holland and attend the next big event IFTF and learn more to report.
I have also learned more about the situation with the local indigenes people that caused big trouble for the growers over the last few years by blocking the streets. Turns out many of these protesters are also very small flower growers who do not pay royalties for the flowers they are selling.
It is a very complicated story but the good news is that there is a dialogue between the flower breeders (whos varieties are being stolen) and the small growers in order to find some solution. Many of these small growers and grow excellent flowers that are sought after.
Quito is a big crowded city nestled high in the Andes mountains and very beautiful and full of history and a good place to hold such and event, as long as you are not in a hurry to get anywhere.
The growers here appear to be quite optimistic about the future based on the number of new greenhouses I saw driving in the North. It is said that there are at least 50 new hectares of greenhouses that have been built recently.
I call Florexpo 2022 a huge success and glad I made the trip. It will be interesting to see if Proflora 2023 in Bogota will eclipse this fine show…. can’t wait.
My video review
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