The International Association of Horticultural Producers ( AIPH ) and its magazine , FloraCulture International ( FCI ) , had ornamentals grower from around the world join its free webinar on 4 January 2025 .
The event was style : Supporting agriculturist Coming Out of The Covid-19 Crisis , with more than 300 people read from 48 land and more than half attending the resilient event at 4 atomic number 61 ( CEST ) ease by experienced webinar organiser , Jungle Talks .
Traumatic and contiguous has been the shock of this invisible virus on the global green industry . The livelihoods of many raiser have been squeeze by the impingement to their traditional marketplaces , the conveyance supply chain and the wellness and safety of workers .
furnish a scholarly overview of the global shifting landscape was Dr Charlie Hall , Ellison Chair in International Floriculture , Texas A&M University , USA . He admits that quantify the nature of the impact has been difficult as “ the data point is lagging ” and jolly perplexing .
For exercise , sales for 68 % of American raiser were up from February to June , for 9 % they were flat and for 24 % they were down , compare to the same period of time in 2019 . He adds : “ this has been a very mixed type of crisis , where some benefit while others have been smart . ”
Dr Hall ’s introduction guides the hearing on how leader , no matter what industriousness , should be suppose in the “ melting pot of crisis ” . He discusses how leaders should be managing people , from customers to provider to substantive workers and concludes with how leadership need to think and react . He sees now as the pivotal moment in time where we require to see ahead to shifting , realigning , and “ reimagining ourselves towards Modern opportunity ” .
Sharing his personal survey on how the recovery for horticulture will face , he says it will be “ more of an inverted square ancestor symbolization ” . illustrate with his fingers , “ where we , were before ‘ the great closedown ’ and then we drop precipitously , and we ’ll have a little v - shaped convalescence , but then a more keep up retrieval as we grapple with the work shift to the new normal to get us back to where we were , here . ”
Telling their stories on manage the crisis and their futurity were Toine Overgaag of Westerlay Orchids , California , USA and Arie van den Berg of Van den Berg Roses , the Netherlands .
As chairwoman of Westerlay Orchids , Overgaag is a hands - on executive who believes the best mode to root on squad members is by encourage personal interlocking through empowerment . He has been president of Westerlay Orchids since 2009 , a period in which the company ’s sales volume , of potted orchids to supermarket , has quadruple to around three million a class . He says : “ We were in a inviolable position and had been design a pretty significant enlargement . Then the supermarket dispatch the brakes . ”
Overgaag talk about the need to act as rapidly to make the change to ensure the natural selection of the business and not skip product purchases or change capital expenditure . One example was to move the accounts payable to a later escort of 60 days . “ Not something we wish to do , ” tote up Overgaag . The other was to lend oneself for the paycheck protection scheme offered by the United States regime .
More importantly , Overgaag seek to protect the wellbeing of his employees . “ We were very , very serious , about this and we still are constructively paranoid about this unseeable enemy . We put safety over business concerns , and we flourish our unbalanced leave of absence dramatically . We broke out citizenry in the output area into work team and excogitate dissimilar shifts . We civilise them on protection with the finish that no one could take in Covid-19 on the premises .
With the orchid descent that was not make a motion Overgaag did not waste time in deliver it to the people that take picking up . They create a aim to donate 100,000 potted orchid to hospital stave to elevate their spirits rather than knock off the beautiful orchids . 91,000 have been donated to date .
The response to the coronavirus pandemic also meant Overgaag is now looking towards a digital platform for furtherance and on-line mart . As the proprietor of a prosperous , international rose growing byplay on three different continents , Arie van den Berg ’s household business Berg Roses sense the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic happening in China at the commencement of 2020 .
In his unique position , with nurseries in the Netherlands , China and Kenya , Van Den Berg shared stories of how Covid-19 impacted his subsidiary in different countries , in different way , and what they did to manage and overtake the crisis .
Despite the disagree obstacles he help his workforce navigate the crisis , and the satisfying structural change occurring at the peak vendue , caravan den Berg say the most substantial uncertainty that he has not been able-bodied to wield is the itinerary to market . He says : “ I think how we contract with airline and trucking services will change . I think the room that these entities maneuver will also change , and we will all consider risk more as a factor in our business operations . ”
refer the future all speakers are mindful there are ongoing threats from Covid-19 on the horizon and the kinship between growers and jobber has changed . They all emphasise the need for growers to look more to their core assets by supporting the workforce and telling the world on societal media about the importance of be green . In summary , growers should not just rivet on the short - condition fixes but look to new opportunities and slipway to fly high which Dr Hall term as “ the young , newfangled normal ” .
Commenting on the event , AIPH Secretary General , Tim Briercliffe pronounce : “ We are enthralled with the response from the industry to this webinar and look forth to provide more such service to facilitate growers through these meter . ”
View the webinar , devoid of accusation onYouTube
