Flower importers could soon switch to seafreigh

European companies who
import f lowers from Africa
are predicting a 30%
switch from airfreight to
seafreight in coming years.
The world’s largest
trading centre for
plants and f lowers,
the Amsterdam-based
Royal FloraHolland,
is experimenting with
refrigerated ocean
containers which it says
are a cheaper, more
environmentally friendly
shipping solution.
Transitioning from air
to ocean freight on key
lanes from growers in
Africa to the marketplace
outside of Amsterdam
could cut costs by 38%
and cut greenhouse gas
emissions by another
87%, officials at Royal
FloraHolland said.
Although the group has
been experimenting with
ocean containers for nearly
ten years, the number of
f lowers moving via ocean
container is quite small.
“At the moment, it’s not
substantial,” said Edwin
Wenink, director of the
centre’s Floricultural
Logistics Optimisation
Worldwide (Flow)
programme, “but it could
and should be 30%.”