Kenya set to welcome flower industry players for the 10th IFTEX
The tenth edition of the International Flower Trade Expo is set to be held in Nairobi Kenya in June and comes at a time when the Kenyan and the global floriculture industry is experienced a bag of mixed fortunes.
From the effects of climate change, the post COVID recovery, fluctuation of the key global trading currencies, mergers, acquisitions and diversification as businesses look to optimize their Dcosts in order to be more effective or grow their portfolio as they look to capture more markets, the industry has been on a roller coaster. Industry players are betting on the expo, to meet, deliberate, place a pulse on the industry and seal deals.
“IFTEX is a great exhibition where buyers and growers meet under one roof. It is not just be about buying and selling flowers, but most importantly an exchange of information where industry players discuss about issues affecting the industry including freight, prices, inputs, materials, markets, and the future of the industry. In such trying times, businesses require support and compliments to keep going and that is what this year’s IFTEX is offering. IFTEX is one of the key exhibitions in the floriculture industry because we are in the key production countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia Columbia, Ecuador,” noted HPP President Dick Van Ramsdonk. HPP organizes flower expos across the world including IFTEX.
Since IFTEX opened its doors here in 2012, there has been a steady pattern of target visitors. Buyers visit Kenya to see the flowers and book supplies. Growers have always put their best mix on show creating a sea of flowers not seen anywhere else under one roof. Despite being among the youngest of global flower shows organized by HPP, IFTEX is now among the top five world’s most important industry events.
Although Kenya actively participates in our other international flower shows globally, IFTEX offers the largest number of growers sitting together showcasing the unique characteristics of flowers from the country’s various growing regions. Big heads, small heads, short stems, long stems as well as different varieties coming from the same country complete the picture of market diversity.
This year, the biggest representation at IFTEX will be the Kenyan flower growers, but producers from other nations will present their products. Growers from Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa are expected to exhibit giving IFTEX a regional fair as well as a show for Africa, staged in Kenya, the continent’s leading producer, and the world’s third largest. This, coming at a time when the country has been at the frontline of championing for the continental trade agreement dubbed the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA. As the pact seeks to liberalize the move+the fastest growing among industry exhibitions organized by HPP but has also the only event that has attracted growers from other continents to showcase their products in a non-consuming country.
The show has grown into a top Kenyan brand, strengthening the country’s position as a leader in global markets, while enhancing the image of Nairobi as the home from where 40 per cent of the flowers sold in Europe originate.
Last year, the event, the first since the COVID pandemic, brought together more than 125 Kenyan and international exhibiting companies and international flower buyers and visitors from over 40 countries where Kenya sells its flowers to.
“The exhibition is about letting the world know where countries and the flower industry in general are standing in the wake of the emerging issues. What has changed? How has the industry performed? It is also a chance for reconnecting on the floor by people and products in a new world with new threats and opportunities. The exhibition therefore gives new answers and guidance that growers and buyers should embrace,” Dick added in the previous interview.
This year the show will be held on June 6-8 at the Oshwal Centre, Parklands, Nairobi.
