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 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.
AIPH’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.
What to import and how to procure flowers and plants from Türkiye
6 April 2022, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm Central European Time - Online
According to the Turkish Ornamental Plants and Products Exporters Association, Türkiye’s flower industry is in great health, rapidly growing its production, exports and horticulturally skilled workers.
The Turkish Ornamental Plants & Products Exporters association was founded in 1999 to support its 500+ Turkish ornamental plants sector members.
The Turkish flower industry utilises 5,248 hectares in production and exports indoor and outdoor plants, cuttings, cut flowers, wreaths and mosses to 79 countries worldwide, including the Netherlands, Uzbekistan, the UK, Germany and Azerbaijan.
The climate and its geographical proximity to its export markets create the ideal conditions for ornamental plant production and cut flowers.
Add to the equation its modern greenhouses and abundance of skilled labour, and it’s easy to see why Türkiye has such a buoyant horticultural industry and is still growing.
Around 55 per cent of this area is used to raise nursery stock outdoor and indoor plants, with the rest made up of 35 per cent of cut flowers and ten young plants, seeds and flower bulbs.
The market has diversified. Before growers sold their plants to local municipalities, the public authorities have less money to spend, and efforts are better employed in developing the huge potential in export markets. It is no secret that the Coronovirus pandemic caused a significant surge in demand for houseplants, garden plants, and all things green and fuelled the exports of Turkish grown ornamentals.
TOP EXPORT MARKETS
Netherlands Uzbekistan Germany The United Kingdom, Azerbaijan Turkmenistan
Important employer
The ornamental plants industry in Türkiye plays an important role supplying high added value and employment. In Türkiye, approximately 25,000 people are directly employed in ornamental plants export. And when you factor in the domestic market, then more than 300.000 people are indirectly employed in the industry. The ornamental plants industry is playing an important role in providing more cohesion to the social structure in the country, through employment of unskilled workers, and by providing them with accommodation and education opportunities.
The major production areas in Türkiye are İzmir, Sakarya, Antalya, Yalova, Bursa, Edirne, Mersin and Adana. Outdoor plants are produced in Sakarya, Yalova, İzmir and around the İstanbul region. Cut flowers are produced in different provinces like Antalya, İzmir and Isparta.
The ornamental plants industry in Türkiye is another rapidly developing sector in both production and export. Ornamental plant exports from Türkiye began 30 years ago, and the sector has grown steadily since then.
For cut flowers, 50 per cent of Türkiye’s production is export-oriented, whereas for outdoor plants it’s ten per cent. The share of exports for both groups has been increasing in recent years. Exports increased to $148 million (USD) in 2021. The outlook for 2022 is rosy, with the Turkish Ornamental Plants and Products Exporters Association expecting to reach the $190 million (USD) mark by the end of this year.
In Türkiye, the ornamental plants sector still has enormous growth potential, and this applies to all three sub-sectors; cut flowers, outdoor and indoor plants.
Türkiye has logistical advantages in the sector. Air and road transport are commonly used in exports. Road transport is cheap, and it takes a short time to reach main destinations in Europe like the Netherlands, UK and Germany.
REASONS WHY IMPORTERS PREFER TURKISH FLOWERS
• Leading producers and suppliers • Year-round production • Proximity to major import markets and logistic advantages • Top product quality thanks to best geographic conditions • Strong potential for growth in the industry • High production capacity with competitive prices • Favourable climate conditions for production
Bright future
“In five to ten years we expect that our nurseries will continue to produce high quality products with a wider range of varieties and will be competitive at export markets. This will increase exports for living plants,” says Ismail Yilmaz, Chairman of the Board of Turkish Ornamental Plants Exporters.
He says, “We will continue our promotional activities and implement new projects to reach this target. We aim to improve our exports by entering new markets. We are working in cooperation with the global players in our industry. We represent our sector in Union Fleurs and AIPH, which are important international associations in the sector. We also make promotional activities in the domestic market, to improve industry and increase consumption. We expect our exports to increase steadily and reach to 250 million dollars in the years to come.”
3pm – Welcome by presenter AIPH Secretary General Tim Briercliffe.
3.05pm – Welcome address by Mr Ismail Yilmaz President of Turkish Flowers.
3.15pm – Video presenting Turkish Flowers.
3.20pm – Presentation by Mr Umut Sakarya who will present an overview of the Turkish market, providing stats on production areas, the geographic concentration of production, the number of growers and product volumes available, revealing some unknown characteristics of Turkish flowers and plants.
3.30pm – Presentation by Mr Azzam Shaffi, International Account Manager at Royal FloraHolland talking about the gateway to Europe for Turkish flowers and plants.
3.45pm – Presentation by Mr Tahsin de Buck Kaya, a seasoned exporter and importer of Turkish flowers and plants.
4.00pm – Presentation by Dr David Bek, Reader in Sustainable Economies based at the Research Centre for Business in Society at Coventry University (UK)
4.15pm – Round table discussion.
Mr İsmail Yilmaz
Mr İsmail Yilmaz
İsmail Yilmaz was born in Trabzon on 03.05.1972 and graduated from Erzurum Atatürk University, Faculty of Agriculture.
He began his professional life by working in the private sector for three years in several jobs. Co-founder of Tempo Tarım Ltd., İsmail Yilmaz, initiated a business in the cut flowers industry.
Afterwards, he started another company named ABANNE Fide Üretim Ltd., which focused on young plant production in the same industry. In 2020 he founded his new company Green Line Tarim Ticaret Ltd. Şti., active in cut flower exports.
İsmail Yilmaz has been Chairman of Turkish Ornamental Plants and Products Exporters Association Executive Board since April 2018.
He was a former Board Member of Cut Flowers Exporters Association between 1999-2010 and Vice Chairman of the Board in Turkish Ornamental Plants & Products Exporters Association between 2010-2015.
Mr Umut Sakarya
Mr Umut Sakarya
Mr Umut Sakarya is the General Manager of Gardensa Landscape Inc. which has 70 years of leading history in the horticulture industry. He has transferred his extensive experience in marketing and retail business to their garden centre investment which was established two years ago.
Mr Sakarya has active roles in several industry associations including; Turkish Ornamental Plant Growers Union-Board Member, Ornamental Plants & Products Exporters Association-Board Member, Yalova Horticultural Organized Zone- Chairman of Board.
He has a BA degree from Boğaziçi University.
Mr Azzam Shaffi
Mr Azzam Shaffi
Mr Azzam Shaffi was born in Egypt on 3 May 1960.
He can look back on a long life career in the floral industry.
He started working for Royal FloraHolland in 1992 and since 2022 he has worked at the world’s largest flower auction until today in the position of International Account Manager.
Mr Tahsin de Buck
Mr Tahsin de Buck
Mr Tahsin de Buck is a second-generation Turkish Dutch. He was born on 10 March 1967 in Rotterdam. His mum was Dutch, his dad was from Turkey, and was among the first migrant workers to arrive in the Netherlands in the 1960s. An often forgotten group of people who have largely contributed to Dutch horticulture growth.
Mr De Buck took his education in dredging but after completing his study he embarked on a different path as there were no internship vacancies available at the time. So he decided to switch from the maritime industry to agriculture, taking up a position at Harm Boegman where he sourced exotic flowers worldwide, predominantly from South Africa (Protea) and New Zealand (cymbidiums)
Subsequently, he worked for ten years at Bleiswijk-based Huizer Imports and Exports, specialising in procuring cut flowers and cut foliage from Southern Europe.
In 2002, he took the bold decision to start his own flower export company. He frequently travels abroad to meet growers to ensure a constant and reliable influx of quality flowers.
Mr De Buck exports to Sweden and France and is testing the waters in Poland.
More recently he started importing cut flowers from Kenya, a new but challenging business endeavour at a time when logistic disruption continues.
Dr David Bek
Dr David Bek.
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 specialises in undertaking research into practices of ethical and environmental sustainability within horticultural supply chains. He has extensive experience in delivering multi-stakeholder projects focusing upon sustainability challenges and assurance systems within retailer supply chains.
He is currently co-leading an influential project investigating sustainability in the global cut-flower industry which was highly commended by the national Green Gown Awards in 2019 for generating real-world impacts.
David is highly skilled at translating research findings into real-world solutions and has undertaken consultancy projects for corporate, third sector and professional organisations including The Horticultural Trades Association; the Grootbos Foundation (South Africa), Tesco International Services, WWF-South Africa and the Sustainability Initiative South Africa.
Silver Sponsor
Fair Name: Landscape Istanbul Fair 2022 Comprehensive Name: Istanbul Landscaping, Landscape Materials, Ornamental Plants, Parks and Gardens Fair Related Sectors: Landscaping and Ornamental Plants Date: 13 – 16 October 2022 Venue: Istanbul Expo Centre, Halls 9,10 and 11 Organiser: ATHENA Fuarcılık A.Ş.
