To prepare for upcoming Valentine's Day, 200,000 Colombians
directly or indirectly employed in the flower industry have been
diligently working for the past few months to get ready for this most important season of the
year that generates an estimated 12 per cent of annual sales.
Augusto Solano, President of Asocolflores, the Association of Colombian
Flower Exporters, stated that, in order to meet the consumer demand for
this major holiday, Colombia will dispatch over 500 million flowers on 28 daily flights destined for many international markets, particularly the United States, Canada and some European countries, loaded primarily with roses and farm-made bouquets.
Solano said, "We are once again on the threshold of the most important
season for our industry. Colombian flower growers stand firm in their
commitment to supply a wide variety of high-quality flowers for this
important occasion to more than 43,000 florists and supermarkets in the
United States."
Mr. Solano added that around 80% of all the flowers currently imported to the United States are from Colombia
and account for almost two thirds of all flowers sold in the U.S. "The
highest imports are made up of roses and farm-made bouquets. We hope
consumers keep on buying flowers as their ideal Valentine's gift to
express their love and friendship."
Sustainable Flowers
Augusto Solano pointed out that Colombia is
one of the flower-producing countries that has made the greatest
strides in social and environmental achievements. Over the past several
years, the Asocolflores' member flower growers have made significant
socio-environmental advances through Florverde®, an independent
certification process created in 1996 in pursuit of providing solutions
for improving the quality of life of floriculture workers, preserving
and protecting the environment, and ensuring the highest production
standards. Additionally, Solano stated that in 2009 almost 90,000
workers benefitted from social programs made possible by Colombian
flower industry investment of over US$9 million.
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