Augusto Solano succeeds outgoing President Richard Fox of Union Fleurs

(Left) Augusto Solano (Asocolflores, Colombia), new President of Union Fleurs, and (right) Richard Fox (Kenya Flower Council, Kenya), outgoing President of Union Fleurs.

Members of Union Fleurs, the International Flower Trade Association, have elected a new President and Board of Directors on the occasion of the General Assembly held in Essen, Germany, on 13 June 2022. The new Union Fleurs Board of Directors will work for the next two years (2022-2024) under the leadership of Augusto Solano, President of Asocolflores, the association of Colombian exporters of cut flowers.

Mr Fox has served on the Union Fleurs Board of Directors since 2008 and held the position of Vice-President from 2014 to 2018 and President since 2018. He was the first representative of a non-European member country to have the presidency in the 60 years of existence of Union Fleurs. The Board of Directors and members of Union Fleurs are immensely grateful to Richard Fox for his outstanding service and highly valuable contribution to Union Fleurs over the past 14 years and for his achievements in promoting the collective mission of Union Fleurs, as well as for his relentless efforts over the years to secure the continuation of the free trade of floricultural products, particularly between Kenya, the EU and the UK. They also acknowledge his long-standing dedication to promoting socially and environmentally sustainable business practices both in Kenya and globally as representative of the trade on behalf of Union Fleurs on the Board of Directors of FSI, the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative from its inception in 2013 to 2022.

The new President, Augusto Solano, brings a wealth of international experience and a well-established network in the global flower industry. An industrial engineer by education, Mr Solano was appointed President of Asocolflores, the association of Colombian exporters of cut flowers, in 2000. Since then, he has become a prominent ambassador of Colombian flowers and of cross-cutting cooperation within the international flower industry. Mr Solano is the current chairman of the Board of the Colombian chapter of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). He has represented floriculture growers from the Southern Hemisphere in the Board of FSI, the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative, since 2014. Augusto Solano has represented Asocolflores in Union Fleurs since 2000 and has served on the Union Fleurs Board of Directors since 2014.

Reflecting the global reach of Union Fleurs and its unique position as the representative organisation for the international floricultural trade, the Union Fleurs Board elected for the next two years is made of a very international team, with the following representatives:

• Augusto Solano, President (Asocolflores, Colombia)
• Frank Zeiler, Vice-President (BGI, Germany)
• Matthijs Mesken, Chairman of the EU section (VGB, the Netherlands)
• Clement Tulezi, Chairman of World Trade Committee (Kenya Flower Council, Kenya), who succeeds Richard Fox in representing Kenya
• Peter Larsen-Ledet, Chairman Pot Plants Committee (Flora Dania, Denmark)
• Paolo di Massa, Relationship Manager (ANCEF, Italy)

Union Fleurs Secretary General Sylvie Mamias supports and runs the association’s daily operations from its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

Union Fleurs and its members congratulate the new President and new Board of Directors. We look forward to their continued contribution to promoting international cooperation in strategic areas of relevance for the international floricultural trade and addressing ongoing and future challenges for the association’s members and the global floriculture supply chain.