Flowers and ornamental plants make up a key subsector within Spanish horticulture, and both exports, important for its future growth, and the development of new sales channels, namely through large distributors, are key elements for its promotion.
Last year, the industry suffered a sharp decline in private consumption and a dramatic reduction in demand from government institutions for public parks and public works, the impact of which was made worse by the VAT increase in January 2013, according to a sectoral report from FEPEX.
While 2014 was a critical year for ornamental horticulture, which was one of the agricultural sectors most affected by the economic crisis, 2015 is shaping up as a year of a recovery, in part because the VAT was reduced again in January to the reduced rate of 10%.
FEPEX General Secretary José María Zalbidea said to Efeagro that this year "there is a clear improvement in the domestic market," due to the lower prices resulting from the return to reduced VAT and an increase in demand as a result of local and regional elections.
Zalbidea has also defended the marketing of flowers and ornamental plants by large distribution chains, where it is "almost non-existent," and added that Spain is the only producer and marketer that barely sales these products through this channel.
"In Germany and the United Kingdom, the sale of flowers and plants is quite remarkable; it is a niche market that will grow considerably, if not today, surely in the future," predicted José María Zalbidea.
Also addressing the topic, the president of the Flowers and Plants Committee at FEPEX, Juan Daniel Marichalar, pointed out that "it is a pending issue, which has already started to develop in the Canary Islands with good results, and with the key being a commitment to offer quality products," he emphasised.
Additionally, both stressed that these are products which can be supplied all year round at an affordable price and that demand is on the rise.
"As soon as there is supply, it will be purchased by the consumer," says Zalbidea, to which Marichalar adds that "what can't be seen, won't be bought," thus considering it essential to develop these new sales channels.
Furthermore, Spain is considered the country with "the greatest potential for growth in Europe" in the export of ornamental plants; not surprisingly, Spanish flowers and plants are "greatly successful" in foreign markets, according to José María Zalbidea. So much so, he remarked, that over the last ten years, Spain, with an 80% growth, is the country with the second greatest increase in the export volume of ornamental plants, only surpassed by Germany.
The Spanish production of ornamental plants is one of the most environmentally friendly, based largely on natural cultivation and not on heated greenhouses, and it also has a certified quality system of good agricultural practices, something which is increasing more demanded by consumers.
According to the aforementioned report, ornamental horticulture represents 3.2% of the overall crop production, with a cultivated acreage amounting to 5,300 hectares and domestic production worth 900 million Euro. The cultivation of ornamental plants is also important from a social standpoint, since it requires plenty of labour and thus generates employment.
About 40,000 jobs are linked to the production of flowers and ornamental plants, concentrated in areas where there is great dependence on this sector, since in the most important production areas there are no alternative crops or economic activities.
The main producing regions are Andalusia, Valencia, Catalonia, Canary Islands, Galicia and Murcia.
Source: Efeagro