IPD hails floral trade mission to Colombia a success

Four cut flower purchasers from Germany and the Netherlands embarked on a floral trade mission to Colombia in the first week of October at the invitation of Germany’s Import Promotion Desk (IPD).  In five days, they toured twelve flower farms in the Bogotá and Antioquia areas.

The trip offered participants a behind-the-scenes-look at Colombia’s reputable flower farms and insights into the quality management of the visited small to medium sized companies. The buyers revelled in the wide variety of Chrysanthemums, Gypsophila, cut Hydrangeas, carnations, Craspedia, Aster, and Alstroemeria.

“Getting to know the story behind the product and the company is very valuable for my day to day  business,” said floral wholesaler Robin Weisheit from Barchfeld (Germany) based Weisheit Blumengrosshandel. Karl-Heinz Kroell from Bluetenpracht, who has been working with flowers from Medellin for a year, also looks back on a succesfull trip. “It’s great to finally visit the beautiful farm that supplies us with quality cut Hydrangeas and to see where our products come from.”

The ambitious travel programme organised by IPD in association with Colombia’s export promotion agency ProColombia has paid off with the first orders of Chrysanthemums, Hydrangeas, Craspedia and Gypsophila booked on the spot in Colombia and now on their way to Europe.

“We are pleased that our service has been so well received by European importers,” says Dr Andreas Gemaehlich, expert for Sourcing + Markets in the cut flowers sector at IPD. “As an import promotion initiative, we arrange contact with carefully selected cut flower producers. At the beginning of November, we will again be at the international trade fair IFTF to present our partner companies from Ecuador, Colombia and Kenya and their range of cut flowers. In addition, another buying mission is planned to Kenya in the summer of 2023 as part of IFTEX in Nairobi.”

IPD is an initiative for import promotion in Germany. The agency serves as a bridge between small and medium-sized enterprises in selected emerging markets and developing countries on the one hand and European importers on the other. The objective is to integrate the partner countries into global trade, thereby contributing towards sustainable economic development in these countries.

IPD introduces exporters from its partner countries to the EU market and assists them in setting up trading relations. For European importers, the IPD opens up new supply sources in the partner countries and assists them in the procurement process for specific products. IPD’s matchmaking services are free of charge.

IPD is currently active in 15 countries: Egypt, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Colombia, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

IPD focusses on specific product groups: fresh produce, natural ingredients for foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, sustainable wood products, cut flowers and sustainable tourism.

IPD has been established and implemented by sequa gGmbH – the globally operating development organisation of German industry and the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA.). The agency is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

In Germany IPD has forged a partnership with the Verband des Deutschen Blumen- Gross- und Importhandels e.V., also known as the BGI. Also, they are in good contact with Union Fleurs.