read about the latest trends
hear about new exhibtions
gain insights to our latest reports
The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) members consist of thousands of growers of flowers and ornamental plants around the world who are together united by one essential goal – promoting the place of plants in people’s lives.
AIPH is responsible for approving the world’s most exceptional horticultural expos creating long lasting green legacies in cities across the globe.
AIPH Blooming Economies & Cities to Inspire The World 2.0. Up-to-date statistics from recent Expos hosted in Asia and Europe.
Learn moreAIPH hosts several conferences, webinars and events such as the International Grower of the Year award throughout the year. Read about these along with the latest news about the association’s activities.
The AIPH International Grower of the Year Awards celebrate the best of the best in ornamental horticulture
Learn moreAIPH’s key aim is to stimulate demand for ornamental trees, plants and flowers worldwide. We are committed to supporting growers in achieving this by protecting and promoting the interests of the industry.
The AIPH’s Global Industry Intelligence Centre (GIIC) is an international hub for industry information and knowledge exchange.
The report contains insights on production and consumption of the floriculture industry in Thailand, imports and exports, and business opportunities
DownloadAIPH Green City activities promote the essential role of plants in creating vibrant urban areas in which people and businesses can thrive.
30 September 2021 , 10:00 am - 4:45 pm BST
Sustainability is now a high priority, at Board level, for many businesses in the ornamental horticulture industry. Not only is it critical for making a better world, but it is a core part of business decision making for many companies.
AIPH partnered with GreenTech Live & Online, the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) and FloraCulture International (FCI) to create a virtual online international conference on ‘The path to sustainability in ornamental horticulture’ on 30 September 2021.
Speakers, from around the world, evaluated what the industry is doing to become more sustainable, how we can measure progress and what the future holds. Following a keynote presentation from Dr. David Bek of Coventry University, UK, the conference discussed the role of certification and progress in key areas including plastics, growing media, energy, pesticide reduction and people.
The recordings from the conference are available to all who attended here. For those who did not attend but are interested in viewing the recordings, access is available via registration.
“The global ornamental horticulture industry makes such a positive contribution to the planet in so many ways but to create a truly sustainable supply chain we need to share initiatives and work together. This conference provides the perfect platform for taking this forwards.”
Tim Briercliffe, Secretary General, AIPH
Royal FloraHolland is a cooperative of growers and we have brought together growers and buyers for over 100 years. We strive for sustainable success for our members by working together with all parties in the floriculture industry, so that the industry continues to grow. We believe that we are smarter and better together, and can do more at less cost than if we each operate on our own. Together, we are becoming increasingly efficient and sustainable and are working towards a future-proof floriculture industry.
We are the biggest marketplace for floriculture in the world and one of the most important export sectors in the Netherlands.
We are developing our marketplace into a digital B2B platform for the floriculture industry with the broadest, deepest and most sustainable range of flowers and plants available worldwide. Ordering, payment, delivery, we ensure that everything is possible through our platform. We connect growers and buyers with all parties in the industry. We are committed to long-term sustainable development. This is how we not only become smarter, more sustainable and more efficient, but also build a future-proof sector. Come join us – Connect to grow.
Royal FloraHolland’s mission is ‘Growing opportunities together’, we connect parties in the floriculture industry and create opportunities for sustainable growth and success on the global market.
PERA Event is an international service agency for special events, M.I.C.E. entertainment and event counselling. Based in Istanbul, Turkey, the group offers solutions, support and services to participants in the development and implementation of International Horticultural Exhibitions.
Garden of Civilization
Expo 2021 Hatay will be hosted across two sites in Antakya and Iskenderun and the organisers expect to attract over two million visitors. Hatay Metropolitan Municipality will continue its hard work organising the event to stimulate city greening and sustainable development for the Hatay region and the local economy.
The expo is due to take place from 10 December 2021 to 30 May 2022. As an AIPH approved International Horticulture Exhibition (B Category), it will enable cooperation and information sharing to address essential issues such as healthy lifestyles, green cities, sustainable living, education, and innovation.
Dr David Bek is a Reader in Sustainable Economies based at the Research Centre for Business in Society at Coventry University (UK), where he co-leads the Sustainable Production and Consumption Cluster. David has extensive experience undertaking research into sustainability within horticultural supply chains, especially cut flowers. He has worked alongside organisations in the fruit, wine and flower sectors in South Africa, to develop training courses and monitoring and evaluation tools to promote enhanced sustainability in practice. David is especially interested in developing an evidence base to demonstrate how innovations within sustainability practice can lead to improvements in businesses’ resilience, productivity and profitability. He is also engaged with projects which seek to shift the focus of standards and certifications away from audit-dependency towards an approach based upon continuous improvement.
Mariska Dreschler is on a mission for food safety and security. As the global team leader of the GreenTech Worldwide events she builds bridges and creates communities for the better the understanding, collaboration and growth of the global horticultural practice. In the firm believe that, when united, healthy food can be provided for everybody around the world. Mariska has a degree in Bachelor Business Administration and has a 25 year background in entrepreneurship, business strategy, business development and event management.
Dr Audrey Timm is a horticultural scientist specialised in ornamental horticulture. Spanning many aspects of horticulture, Audrey’s career has covered academic research in South Africa, industry support, training and on-farm research and development in Australia, and promoting the connection between design and ecology in urban landscapes with the University of Sheffield in the UK.
Albert Haasnoot has been working at Royal FloraHolland since 1994. In the beginning of his career he was responsible for the direct sales and auctioning of flowers and plants. In recent years he has been involved in programmes and projects in the field of innovation and sustainability. Albert is the Commissioner of the EU project FloriPEF and on behalf of Royal FloraHolland board member of the Dutch Green City Foundation and member of the advisory board of the club of 100 of WUR. He is also actively involved on behalf of the floriculture sector in the Floriade EXPO 2022 in Almere.
Daan de Vries (Amsterdam, 1972) was appointed as CEO of the MPS Group in December 2020. Before joining MPS, he held various senior management and executive positions. He worked at the Rainforest Alliance (formerly UTZ) in sectors such as cocoa, coffee and tea, most recently as Chief Innovation and Technology Officer. He was the pioneering program manager of the UTZ cocoa program, which became the largest sustainability program for cocoa worldwide. Before UTZ, he worked in sustainability and strategy consulting, the largest Dutch timber trade group and an internet start-up. Daan holds an MBA from INSEAD and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Delft University of Technology. Daan has been working on sustainable chains for agriculture, food and wood for more than fifteen years.
Jeroen Oudheusden has been working in the floriculture sector for the last 27 years after graduating on Business Management from the University in Amsterdam. He held various management positions at the Flower Auctions in the Netherlands. During the last 9 years he has been an independent consultant in the field of process improvements and sustainability. He has been leading the FSI initiative from its inception in 2013, helping the initiative grow from 18 to currently 75 international members and supported the transformation of the sustainability side of the sector. On behalf of the Dutch Government, he also chaired the formation of the Dutch RBC on adhering to OECD and UN Guiding principles and currently acts as program manager for the implementation since the start in September 2019.
Nora Meijerink is the Global Sustainability Manager at Chrysal International. Chrysal has a strong focus to reduce waste and water usage for every stage in the horticultural chain, through our products, advice and protocols. We are keeping flowers fresh longer as the market leader in flower care. Together with our partners we strive to set the standard for sustainability in our industry.
Bill has had many roles and responsibilities within the horticulture industry over the years and has always had an avid involvement in industry professional development, education, and certification.
A native of North Carolina, Dr. Charlie Hall received a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Tennessee in 1984, a Master’s Degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design from the University of Tennessee in 1986, and his Ph.D. from Mississippi State University. He began his academic career at Texas A&M University in 1988, where he spent 13 years on the faculty before joining the faculty at the University of Tennessee in 2002. In August 2007, Dr. Hall returned to Texas A&M University as Professor and Ellison Chair in International Floriculture.
As son of a florist it was clear that he took over his fathers flowershop. After his eduction as master florist he started working at different flowershops.
Derek set up his small wholesale perennial and herb nursery in Hampshire (UK) in 1984 with his wife Caroline. After many years growing crops for garden centres and larger multiple DIY outlets they decided on a change in direction to take their plant production outside the standard run of the mill market range. Over the last 16 years they have moved the growing and marketing of their plants in a very marked sustainable direction, under the trading brand of ‘The Hairy Pot Plant Company’.
Elise Wieringa works as Sustainability Manager at Royal Lemkes, a plant service provider for large retail organisations.
Richard Fernandes, more commonly known as Kiki, founded the cut flower company Kariki Ltd in Kenya in 2001 and has since then been instrumental in growing the business across both Kenya and Ethiopia.
Cresultant (Leo Swart) started in 2016 for the horticulture industry. Leo is committed to helping the horticultural sector to make the changes that it is currently facing. It is extremely important for an organization to seek and establish connections throughout the entire chain. With or without the applications of smart technologies and data. And that is, especially in the beginning, quite exciting. Leo has experience in all facets of horticulture and my network extends worldwide. See my LinkedIn profile for more detail.
Lisa Heinemann is a certification and development cooperation professional with over 6 years experience in sustainability certification.
Maarten Bánki is the manager of Sustainable Development & Quality at Royal FloraHolland.
Melanie is an international category lead as strategy setter, expert, project and team leader for Fairtrade Flowers & Plants. She manages sustainable product and supply chains, is responsible for international business development, and launched new (online) tools to increase transparency.
Moritz Böcking joined Klasmann-Deilmann in 2011 as Managing Director. Prior to this role, he worked at Epuron GmbH in the development, Financing and Sale of Renewable Energy Projects.
Nada van Schouwenburg is a programmes specialist at Women Win, an international women’s rights organisation and fund. Her work with Women Win focuses on women’s economic empowerment in international value chains, specifically the Floriculture sector in East Africa and the Netherlands. In her capacity, she is an active member in the Dutch Responsible Business Conduct Agreement Floriculture and FSI, where she advocates for a gender-responsive due diligence process and living wages for all workers in the supply chain.
Flamingo Horticulture is one of the largest growers, processors and exporters of horticultural products in Kenya for in-store sale to all the major UK and European retailers and for home delivery. It is an integral part of Flamingo International, a vertically integrated flower and vegetable growing and marketing group built on sustainable and responsible sourcing.
After graduating college in 2005, I worked for 8 years in sustainable agriculture on livestock and produce farms in the Catskill region of upstate New York. In 2017 I returned to the family business, working in product management for several years before taking on the company’s sustainability initiatives in 2020.
Steve is the CEO of Southern Trident and also the Chairman of the Responsible Sourcing Scheme for Growing Media, he was also Chairman of the Growing Media Association in the UK from 2014 for 5 years.
Sven Hoping’s career at Pöppelmann TEKU® began in 2001 with a dual course of study. He gained international experience during his subsequent work for John Deere, before returning to Pöppelmann TEKU® in 2009 as Export Sales Manager. In July 2017 he became Global Sales Director of the Pöppelmann TEKU® Division. Pöppelmann TEKU® develops and produces plastic plant pots and cultivation systems for the professional horticulture industry. The diversity of the range with over 600 products in more than 2.000 versions offers the ideal solution for every type of cultivation. From pots and trays through to custom printing, Pöppelmann TEKU® offers you everything from one source with a clear and consequent position for circular economy solutions. These solutions are bundled in the company-wide initiative Pöppelmann blue®.
William Gee works as Head of Sustainability at Freddie’s Flowers, an online flower retailer operating in the UK and Germany. He holds an Msc in Sustainable and International Development from the University of Utrecht, and upon returning to the UK has passionately applied his knowledge to the floral sector. William founded the company’s sustainability department in early 2019 after pitching to the board of directors on the growing need to formally incorporate an ESG strategy into their business model. Following on from this, Freddie’s Flowers has achieved carbon neutrality (certified by the Carbon Trust) and set ambitious emissions reduction targets through the Science-based Targets initiative. It has also joined the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative and committed to their 2025 targets. Finally, William has supported the company’s expansions abroad ensuring that their ESG values are held at the forefront. In late 2020 Freddie’s Flowers expanded into Germany, with further plans to launch in Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium and California before the end of 2021.
Ximena Franco Villegas is an industrial engineer and MSc. in Environmental Management for Sustainable Development. Her master’s thesis research was devoted to minimizing climate change through avoided deforestation in oak forests. She has additional studies in Management of Development Organizations, Climate Change, Socio-environmental Certifications, Project Management and Leadership, among others.
