CIOPORA was honored to join key associations and business leaders at the World Floral Summit, sponsored by Royal FloraHolland, on November 7 in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands.
Industry visionary Jaap Kras kicked off the event, comparing the path of flower from creation to consumer in 1990 to that of today and highlighting the fact that many of the steps that existed 30 years ago have now been eliminated. This thread of “anticipating change” was woven throughout the rest of the event.
With the underlying theme of vertical integration in the horticulture sector, leaders from each step in the trade chain – CIOPORA, AIPH, Union Fleurs and Florint – took the stage to present their current challenges and potential opportunities. Steve Hutton, President of the Board, presented on behalf of CIOPORA.
The keynote speaker, Jan Rotmans, professor of Sustainable Transitions and System Innovations, continued the discussion on digitalization in the industry and was followed by a panel who exchanged overlapping and different views on the barriers within industry, in Europe, Latin America and around the world. Panelists included:
Marco van Zijverden (Union Fleurs)
Tim Briercliffe (AIPH)
Augusto Solano (Asocolflores)
Per Klemm (Selecta-One)
Lucas Vos (CEO Royal FloraHolland)
Speaking about the event, Lucas Vos of Royal FloraHolland said cooperation from all current players in the industry will be necessary in order to maintain control of the trade chain. He said big parties such as Amazon and Alibaba could threaten floriculture as we know it today, and digitalization must be considered.
(Images provided by Royal FloraHolland.)