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Extra Features and Video Online FloristsReview.com R E A D O N L I N E 55 Kenya It is estimated that in Kenya, more than 500,000 people, including more than 100,000 fl ower farm workers, depend on the fl oriculture industry. In addition, Kenya's national economy relies heavily on the agriculture sector. e main cut fl owers grown in Kenya are roses, Alstroemeria and carnations, but other crops include lilies, Eryngium, Limonium, Gypsophila, Hypericum— along with many others. Kenya is the leading exporter of roses to the European Union (EU), with a market share of 38 percent. North America Imported fl owers are the backbone of the U.S. fl ower market (most sources agree that around 80 percent of all cut fl owers sold in the United States are imported, with approximately two- thirds of those coming from Colombia and approximately one-sixth coming from Ecuador); however, the role of domestically and locally grown botanicals is undeniable. e "local" cut fl ower industry is growing, as more consumers chose to support local fl ower growers. During the COVID pandemic, many fl orists turned to local growers, discovering diff erent types of fl owers and options along the way. Supporting hundreds of farmers, thousands of small businesses, and tens of thousands of jobs in the United States, the cut fl ower and foliage sector is an important part of U.S. agriculture. Most cut fl owers and foliages are grown in warm climates that allow fl ower production through much of the year: Approximately three-fourths of all cut fl owers sold in the U.S. are grown in California, but growers in other states, including Florida, Washington and Hawaii, are also important contributors to the U.S. fl ower supply. e Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG) was created to educate, unite and support commercial cut fl ower growers. "Flowers that are grown close to home give consumers both freshness and assurance that their dollars are going support their local economies," explains Judy Laushman, executive director of ASCFG. "With 2,500 growers in all 50 states and Canada, variety is assured. ASCFG currently lists 181 active Canadian members. Every day, thousands of greenhouse- grown plants and cut fl owers like Gerbera, tulips, snapdragons, lilies and Chrysanthemum are shipped to the United States as part of Canada's annual $420 million in fl oriculture export sales." 3. THE WHOLESALE FLORISTS Cut fl ower wholesalers play an important distribution role in getting fl owers from the farms to fl orists around the globe. ey work with both domestic and foreign growers to source the fl owers that their retail fl orist customers need. Most cut fl owers exported to the United States are air-freighted into the country, and then shipped via refrigerated trucks to the wholesalers nationwide, who then process and repack the fl owers for fi nal delivery to retail fl orists. Wholesalers off er knowledge, experience and convenience for sourcing cut fl owers, making fl orists' lives much simpler. 4. THE RETAIL FLORISTS e second-to-last stop in the journey of a fl ower is the fl ower shop, studio or event design facility, where fl ower designers arrange fl owers sourced from around the world into beautiful works of art for consumers. ose fl owers have already touched so many people lives throughout their journey, and now they are ready to create memorable moments in the lives of consumers. e fl ower industry provides opportunities for women making better lives for themselves and their families. Did you know that women make up more than half of the workforce in the cut fl ower growing sector? Many growers give back to their employees with support like education, health care and childcare, to help women succeed in the workplace. Asocolfl ores notes that the Colombian fl ower sector employs around 200,000 people, and approximately 60 percent (120,000) are women, many of them breadwinners. Taking THE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER INDUSTRY'S POSITIVE IMPACT ON WOMEN this situation into account, Asocolfl ores and its members launched a gender equity plan, Floreciendo Juntos (Flowering Together), in 2020, the mission of which is "to improve the processes of access, permanence and development of women in the fl ower sector, through the development and transfer of skills and tools to companies, to close gaps in gender equality." Miami, Fla.-based Equifl or/Rio Roses' farms and partner farms employ more than 1,000 people at farms in Colombia and Ecuador. "We view our farms' and partner farms' employees as THE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER INDUSTRY'S

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