Flower Circus

In this first episode of London's Calling Caroline and John discuss the IFTF and Flora Holland Tradefair which were held last week. What were the highlights, and how was the overall atmosphere? But before we go into that, we go from the Eurovision to the current prices at the Dutch auction.

Enjoy the podcast and let us know if you like this format!

International Women's Day is around the corner. A day that is celebrated in Russia and Eastern Europe with a lot of flowers. We talk about the huge flowerday with Naila and Moses from MM Flor. MM Flor is specialised in selling flowers and plants to Russia and Eastern Europe.   

We speak about what this day means for the people, and that giving flowers is a must. Not only to your direct family, also to female collegues etc. Not giving flowers will be remembered for a long long time!!!   

The high prices are also one of the topics, although Moses sees that it isn't influencing the business as much as he though on forehand. Customers are buying flowers anyway, because without flowers they don't have a business. And with Womensday being good for 25-30% the turnover for most flowershops, they can't skip this day.

We are in the middle of all big flower holidays, Valentine sales are done for the export, and Women's Day is already around the corner. Time to talk with Kjell Duijvesteijn, the co-owner of Flower Force. A Dutch export company which exports to over 40 counties worldwide.  

Kjell will tell us about the challenges this Valentines, and we look forward towards the upcoming holidays.

Our Flower Circus Talks are about promotion of unique flower companies and services, top quality growers, and innovators of the industry. This time we will have an insightful conversation with Jurjen Ilsink from The World of Spray roses. 

The World of Sprayroses is unique collective of leading and passionate spray rose growers with the ambition to represent the showcase of the endless possibilities of beautiful Sprayroses worldwide. They do extraordinary promotion and shine bright on the market their marketing campaigns.  

Don’t miss the Talk full of inspiration, ideas, experience, knowledge, and, of course, passion for spray roses!

Last week CalFlowers launched a spectacular new campaign to promote flowers: That Flower Feeling.  

We talk with Steve Dionne, the executive director of Calflowers about the campaign, how it started, how the project came to life, and what the future plans are for this campaign. Of course, we will also show the official video of the campaign.  

Calflowers really pulled off a great job with this campaign to promote the whole floral industry!

for more info about Calflowers:

https://www.cafgs.org/

and the campaign:

https://thatflowerfeeling.org/

"All signs are on green for this Tulip season"

In our Flower Circus Talks we had Jeroen Windt from Polderpride as our guest. Saturday the 15th it's the official start of the Tulips season in Holland, so it's time to talk about Tulips.

Polder Pride is a strong brand of quality tulips in the market. With Jeroen, we talk about his expectations for this season, the challenge of the high energy prices, sustainability, and what happens throughout the year at a Tulip grower.

This and more great info from Jeroen in this Flower Circus Talks.

Listen to it via your favorite podcast player, or watch it on our YouTube Channel.

To end the year with a laugh and a tear, we have a Flower Circus Talks Special. John and Jhon will talk with friends of the Circus about their year, and we will be looking forward to 2022. An absolute fun show which you shouldn't miss!!!

In the Show we have Mr Plantgeek Michael Perry, Harold van Eendenburg, (Alstroemeria) Ben Cross, Juan David Lecuona, Max Hurtaud, Geertje Stienstra, Mark Frank, Caroline Marshall-Foster, Maarten Huisman and Williee Armellini.

In this Flower Circus Talks we have Bas ter Laare from Flower Exchange as our Guest.  Flower Exchange is an innovative initiative between Kenya's best and largest flower farms. 

They combine an incredible selection and quality with seamless freight forwarding and transparent pricing.  With Bas we talk about of course Flower Exchange, the Kenyan flower industry, the challenges and opportunities they have. But most of all it's about what the passion for flowers can bring us as an industry. Both from the side from the people working in the industry, as well as the people who recently 'discovered' the wonders of flowers during the pandemic.

Growers in Holland are facing more and more challenges, gas prices are sky-high, raw materials are getting more and more expensive, and logistics are also a big challenge.    

How does Beyond Chrysant cope with all these challenges, and how does the gas price affect individual growers? Wouter will tell us.    

We also talk about how Beyond Chrysant focuses on florists, and all changes within the company are made to serve them better. 100% quality, every stem is good, but also in terms of sustainability. From rooting their own cutting to save transport, to boxes without paint and coating. All small steps make that they are more and more grow towards a sustainable future!    

Also a big shoutout to people who have ideas on how they can be even more sustainable to contact Wouter!

In this Flower Circus Talks we have Huib van Veen from Four Seasons Quality as our guest.  At the moment they are in the preparations for the Tradeshows in Holland. FSQ will be both at the FlowerBazar as well as at the IFTF 2021 - International Floriculture & Horticulture Trade Fair 

They will show their roses (and other flowers there).  With Huib we talk about the company, how business has changed over the years, and what he expects for the future in terms of transport, sales, and trends

It has been 2 years ago that the last flower exhibition was held by HPP Exhibitions, and now it is finally time that the floral industry from (almost) all over the world will meet again during the IFTF.  

With Dick van Raamsdonk we talk about the upcoming edition, what has changed, and are there any extra rules for this edition.

In this Flower Circus Talks we have Tom Vermeer, managing director of Xpol as our Guest.  

For all parties in the flower industry, it are challenging times. How does Xpol handle this?  

What started as a unique approach on how they synchronize the market, instead of buying and selling, turned out to be a great formula, that also helps them in times where all costs rise, especially airfreight.  

By synchronizing between grower and customer the chain is made much shorter. Packed at source is a great example: by packing the flowers/bouquets at source it saves a lot of time (vase life!) it also reduces the amount of handling and waste.   

Together with other partners they also worked on a new packaging to make optimal use of the airfreight space (which is a scarce thing right now). Pallets are loaded to the maximum, not losing valuable space. Next to that it also contributes to the sustainability goals Xpol set for themselves. The amount of paper/cardboard is significantly reduced since the use of this standardized box.  

This and much more in this very interesting Flower Circus Talks

'A whole new generation of florists is created due to Covid'

With Sahid we Talk about how the industry is changing, and how florists are reacting to it.  

Sahid has been at the SAF and saw that a lot of florists attended the seminars about online sales/marketing etc. The rooms were filled with florists. Most of them see it as a new/extra way of sales.   

After the crisis of 2008 a new group of florists emerged, and the same is happening again. For the industry, it's a good thing we get new people in with new and fresh ideas.   

We also talked about how the industry should work more together to get better results. Collaboration is the key to success!

There is a huge shortage of roses at the moment. What is going on? We talk with Michael Black from Jet Fresh Flowers and Jet Fresh Growers, and Alejandro Henao from Naranjo Roses to find out.  

There isn't just one reason why the market is so stressed at the moment, it's a combination of different factors. Lots of farms have been bought by the big supermarkets (suppliers). These roses normally were sold in the traditional markets. 

This makes that the supply is significantly less. Add with this that it's a low production period for a lot of growers, record low temperatures in Ecuador. And on top of that maintenance work on the runway of the main airport, so less flight capacity.  

Luckily the last one should be taken care of this weekend. The weather will not stay cold for long (hopefully) and growers (which pinch their crops to make peaks), will have higher production coming up for the All Saints.  

The first point makes that the market is way more sensitive to higher demand. Both Michael and Alejandro recommend planning well ahead of when you have an event. Placing standing orders will help a lot as well to get the flowers you want.  

There are growers who want to expand to fulfill the demand. However, the costs and delivery time of materials to build greenhouses are crazy. This is why both men think this market will at least for another year.

Ben Cross from Crosslands Flower Nursery is a specialist and a 4th generation Alstroemeria grower, as well as the Founder of the British Flowers Rock Campaign. 

Ben is an exceptional man and true flower lover who won the 'Empowering Communities Award' which recognizes people who make an outstanding contribution towards conservation, biodiversity, and climate change.👏🏻

Listen to the podcast of Flower Circus Talks to hear Ben's story, bold ideas, and the mission of his projects.🌺

After making 121 magazines in 20 years Fusion Flower stops.

All these years the magazine was a podium for young floral designers and an inspiration source for florists and designers all over the planet.

We are talking with Alison Bradley the editor of Fusion Flowers; about the adventures she had over the years. Highlights with meeting designers, winning awards, and much more.

By the reactions of all people during the Talks you see how much the magazine (and Alison) meant for everybody. It's a pity the magazine has to stop, but one thing is for sure: Alison will be around, and we are really delighted about that! 

Now that weddings start again, it is time to talk with Joey Azout from Alexandra Farms. The boutique farm is growing fantastic garden roses.

This year they added 9 new varieties, some of them are sprayroses.

Joey will talk us through all the new varieties, and what makes them so special. One thing is for sure, there is a great story behind every variety!
What a lot of florists still have in mind is that garden roses have a poor vase life, all varieties Alexandra Farms is growing are tested, to make sure the vase life is good. The vase life is even mentioned on their website and posters, as well as the fragrance.

What becomes clear is that Alexandra Farms does way further than growing great roses. Just check how they pack their boxes, it's like receiving a gift. Helping florists making the right choices in terms of varieties is also part of it. the right photography plays a big role there as well. How do roses look like in the different stages?

The next idea is to come up with a course for florists especially for garden roses. In this way (new) florists can learn more about sprayroses, varieties, care and design.

In short a Talks filled with a lot of inspiration from Joey!

In this Flower Circus Talks, we have the very talented Keith Lin.   

It doesn't matter if it is a flower, plant or tree. You can make sure he can something extraordinarily out of it. Multiply price winning at several big shows around the world like the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Singapore Garden Festival, and designer at the Petal Garden at the Jewel Changi Airport.   

Great to learn how Keith tries to stimulate all the senses in his designs. Next to that, he is checking all his designs if they are suitable for Social media and selfies. After all this is how most people will see the designs through social media  

In short a must-watch, because this man can do magic, and has a wonderful story to tell!!!

Arnold has broad experience with supplying supermarkets in both Europe and the USA. What are the differences, changes, and how did Covid change the way of buying?   

Arnold is live from a greenhouse of a lily breeder, as they have open days. It is all about catching up this month with a lot of open days.  

With his experience with selling flowers to supermarkets both in Europe as well as the USA Arnold is the perfect person to tell more about what is going on in the flower sales at supermarkets.  

He will tell about the differences between the two markets, where the changes are for even more sales.  We will also discuss the challenges there are and will be. Transport and Labour are two of the main challenges. What kind of solutions can the industry come up with to solve this.  

This and much more in this Flower Circus Talks 

Watch more talks with top specialists from the flower industry 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fr5o-fyDMo&list=PL-VhDGibwtHSDMMM47fHATIeEurQTQRwr 

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'Lisianthus one of the most versatile flowers out there'

Lisianthus- The Special flower is a cooperation of the Dutch Lisianthus grower to promote this wonderful flower. 

Their promotions always stand out, they made several beautiful inspiration books for florists and came up with a great flower truck display last year.

This week it was time for a new photoshoot for more wedding inspiration. To show how versatile the Lisianthus is they worked with four different color schemes. The team of 2Dezign and designers made again enough great material to inspire florists for many wedding ideas with Lisianthus.

Jolande also tells us more about the Lisianthus and gives tips and tricks to make the sales of Lisianthus even more profitable.

In this Flower Circus Talks we have Peter Kuijt, a flower sales expert. 

Peter works for the flower export company, Anton Spaargaren, and regularly visits lots of growers and auctions.  

Peter shares the beauty from the greenhouses on his Instagram account, so check it out  

👉🏻 https://bit.ly/3sp5tl6 Watch more talks with top specialists from flower industry 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fr5o-fyDMo&list=PL-VhDGibwtHSDMMM47fHATIeEurQTQRwr 

Join our other social media: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlowerCircus.nl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowercircus.nl/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flowercircus_nl 

Subscribe to our newsletter to get all important news and announcements all in one time 😉 

https://www.flowercircus.nl/

Dimitris is a floral designer, and owner of Flowers Papadakis in Athens Greece. He is also the Vice President at Athens Florists Association Greece. With Dimitris talk about his business, and how it is affected by not only Covid, but also before that the economical crisis in Greece.

He will explain on which principles he has build his flower business which help him to continue to do business. He will also give many! tips and tricks how he increases sales. A must listen for all you florists out there!

In this episode we have Danny van Uffelen from Zentoo.

Zentoo is the biggest growers association in Chrysanthemums in Holland. Recently Zentoo increased it's growth ambition. Zentoo wants to achieve a market share of 35% in the spray chrysanthemum, disbudded chrysanthemum and santini segments. 

With Danny we talk about their ambitions, the current market (8th of March and UK Mother's Day). 

The varieties they have, which ones are coming up, and how they select these new varieties.

We also talk about sustainability. Not only in the greenhouse Zentoo has made big steps, also in terms of packaging.

This and much more in this Flower Circus Talks

In this Flower Circus Talks we have Shabistan Khan as our guest.

Shabistan was during her study already attracted to flowers, spending half her money on buying flowers.

No wonder that this woman had to end up in the floral industry. After started her own flower shop, she worked for Soex Flora, and is now working for Black Tulip Group. Next to this she also writes her own blog (flowerandeverything.com) about her big passion flowers, and everything else that keeps her busy.

We of course discuss about how last Valentine's Day went, to quickly move to the subject of this Talks: Online Marketing. Shabistan have learned it all buy spending hours reading about the subject, and also by asking professionals in this area for help. Her tip: don't be afraid to ask, those people are most of the time more than happy to share their knowledge.

The magical word for social media seems to be targeting. Find your right audience, and start to communicate with them. It is better to start out with a small group, than with a big audience. Test how they react on your posts, and finetune it if necessary. From there you can try to make some bigger steps.

Make sure you are visibel as well, so no once in a week posts, as people will not see it.

This and much more great tips and information from Shabistan in this Flower Circus Talks.

A must listen if you want to grow your business online!

Porta Nova is a rose nursery that specializes in cultivating top quality Red & White Naomi roses. In their modern and environmental friendly greenhouse in the Netherlands, they do everything in our power to assure our roses grow to perfection.

Stefan will tell us about how this Valentine's Day went for them, and how it was different then previous years. He will also explain that they not only aim to have constantly the best roses, but also take care of the environment. To achieve this they came up with some really inventive solutions.

for promoting their flowers they work a lot with top designers from all over the world. For them the best way to show not only the beauty of their roses, but also the endless possibilities what you can make with them.

This and much more in this Flower Circus Talks

In this Flower Circus Talks we have the multiple award winning Bill Schaffer.

As a third generation florist, at young age Bill was sure he wouldn't end up as a florist, after sweeping the floor of the flower shop when he was young.

Now years later he is a renown floral designer, found his wife via his work, and now they run Schaffer Designs.

With Bill we talk about the special events and designs they did over the years.

Of course we will also talk about the Philadelphia Flower Show, were they already won so many awards.

It is about going all the way to make it look perfect. This not only requires a lot of skills, a great team. 

It requires also a lot of knowledge about all the flowers.

This and much more in this episode of Flower Circus Talks 

In this Flower Circus Talks we get a boost of positive floral energy from Juanita, Melisa and Diana from Jet Fresh Growers, and Jet Fresh Global.  They will tell about the company, and what it is that makes them stand out. And this is not only because of their Hippy Psychedelic Roses. It is much more than that. From the way they grow, to the way they pack.  Helping the customer in every possible way, that is also why they started Jet Fresh Global. So customers can buy more than the roses from their farm.  This, and much more in these Flower Circus Talks.