Galaxy Flowers, Quality Summer flowers embellishing bouquets
Kenya is renowned for its roses but the range of summer flowers being grown are coming out as an asset to consider. Summer flowers are used to blend, embellish and combine bouquets making them to be on high demand. Kenya summer flowers have become popular in global markets due to their freshness and uniqueness. They have increasingly become popular among small-scale flower growers because they are easier and less expensive to manage, and they can also be grown in open fields.
Galaxy Flowers has been in the flower business for a decade and over the years they have been able to expand tremendously. One of their objectives is to grow quality flowers, in response to the Kenya Government’s policy paper of 2002 on “Wealth and Employment Creation”. Apart from creating wealth through foreign exchange earnings, the enterprise creates jobs and boost local economy and community development.
“Galaxy Flowers was established in September 2013. We are situated in a very good location, near Nyahururu which is along the Equator. The altitude is 2000 meters above sea level and the land is touching one of permanent river Ewaso Nyiro. The farm has a total of 27 hectares of land with very nice gentle slope of red soil. Due to the proximity to the Equator our flowers enjoy 12 hours of sunshine throughout the year guaranteeing our customers high quality, thick stems, intense tones and long vase life. We have spread our production cycles to guarantee supplies throughout the year,” said Ruth Mwangi the marketing manager
Currently they have 19 varieties of summer flowers in their assortment portfolio. Their assortment is trendy with assortments that include tinted flowers. “Some of the varieties we farm includes; Gypsophilia Cosmic My White, Gypsophilla Excellence, Limonium Pina Colada, Limonium Safora Dark Blue, Limonium Dark Pink, Rainbow Gypso, Veronica, Veronica white, Veronica Blue, Veronica Pink, among others.
Ever since we set up 10 years ago, one of our main driving forces which guides our philosophy and defines us is that we do not compromise on quality. Taking shortcuts is not part of our culture because we are consumer led and take time to listen to what the customers want and respond to their requests. This philosophy has given us a competitive edge in the market,” said Ruth.
To ensure that the flowers are grown sustainably, the company has invested in various innovations and environmentally friendly practices. They have embraced biological, organic pests and diseases control methods. This protects workers the environment and ensures that the flowers meet as well as exceed global standards. The Farm is 100 percent organic, using liquid organic fertilizer popularly known as Jeevamruit.
“We are keen on embracing clean, green and sustainable energy sources as part of our commitment to reduction of carbon footprint. We have transitioned to solar energy, which has also seen us reduce energy costs by around 20 percent while allowing us to have consistent and uninterrupted power supply that reinforces our operations.” Ruth noted. Investment in these sustainable practices has seen the firm earn globally acclaimed accreditations; MPS.
The compamy first flowers were officially launched and commenced sales at the Dutch flower auction, Royal Flora Holland in the year 2014. Having started fully on auctions, the company has diversified to European countries like United Kingdom, USA and Australia whilst also maintain their produce stake to direct markets in the Netherlands and Middle East mostly UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Well having said and done, it hasn’t been all rosy in the Kenya flower Industry, as is the case the company has been grappling with high freight charges and a lack of cargo space that have taken a toll on production and export numbers. “We keep imploring the government to support the Kenyan flower industry, especially on the freight challenges. Growers have demonstrated they are willing to do their best to produce quality flowers. But their steps are being hindered by the exorbitant freight charges that make the Kenyan flowers uncompetitive in the global market. For instance, inadequate space in the airline causes delays which makes our clients sometimes to cancel their orders and also roll over makes the quality of the flowers to worsen,” Ruth further said.
“One of our biggest challenges ever faced was COVID 19. It negatively impacted our business in that we were not able to sell flowers thus we incurred losses and the company also ran into bad debts. We have cushioned ourselves by diversifying our markets, integrating both local and international market and reducing the prices just to try and push for the volume to avoid more wastage,” she noted
Galaxy Flowers maintain one vision to grow high quality, sustainable flowers that places the Kenya floriculture sector firmly on the global map. For their future, the company intends to increase productivity of their workers by capacity building through offering appropriate training while offering more employment opportunities to more people.
