News - Finlays

10
Project Lily Nev Harries
In 1996 Finlay Flowers established a joint
venture with Hilverda Plant Technology, a
well known and respected Dutch company
specialising in the breeding and
propagation of carnation, alstroemeria and
limonium plants. The joint venture is
involved in the production of standard
and spray carnation cuttings here on our
tea estates in Kericho. From a production
area of 3 Ha, over 20 million cuttings are
produced annually, of which a substantial
proportion are exported to international
markets including Japan.
In an increasingly competitive market,
rising airfreight rates represent a major
cost. As a result, Hilverda are considering
setting up satellite production facilities
closer to key markets and have been
exploring the potential of establishing a
production facility in China. Since the start
of our joint venture the relationship
between our two companies has grown from
strength to strength; Hilverda approached
Finlays last year with a proposal to develop
a project together in China where the
former would operate a cuttings production
facility in partnership with a Finlays cut
flower project. A visit to Kunming was
arranged in April this year when Tim
Blackburn and I accompanied Hilverda
Directors Jan Hilverda and Marius Tas and
their China Representative Pieter Strooper.
Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province,
located in the south west of China. The
Province has been at the forefront of cut
flower development in China. Due to a
unique combination of climate, topography
and altitude, which enable a wide variety of
flowers to be grown year round, the area
surrounding Kunming and nearby Yuxi
cities is ideally suited for cut flower
production. The growth in this sector has
been very rapid in Yunnan. Amazingly, the
first farms were started as recently as the
late ’eighties; yet, today, there are over
4,000 Ha of flowers cultivated in this
region, accounting for over 50% of China’s
total cut flower production. In 2002 alone
over 2 billion flowers were produced.
The ten-year old joint
venture between
Finlay Flowers and
Hilverda Plant
Technology has put
out a promising new
shoot. Nev Harries,
Assistant Executive
Finlay Flowers,
goes East.
Yoshikazu Suzuki (Fuji-Plants), Yuuki Ban (Florist), Jan
Hilverda, Pieter Strooper (Hilverda B.V.), Yoshihiro Sugai
(Nissho Iwai), Marius Tas (Hilverda B.V.), Tim Blackburn,
Nev Harries (Finlays) and representatives of Yingmao.
The rapid development of the domestic
market and proximity to regional markets,
Japan in particular, are key factors in the
success of the proposed venture, where
Finlays would be looking to produce
certified, premium quality cut flowers for
niche markets. With this in mind we visited
several farms to review operations. Whilst in
Kenya it is not uncommon for flower farms
to be in excess of 50 hectares, the majority
of farms in Yunnan are family-run
smallholdings, varying in size from a few
hundred square metres up to half a hectare
with very few projects over ten hectares.
The visit highlighted the potential of this
venture and the significant advantages
which our Kenyan experience could afford.
Since this initial visit we have been working
closely with our Swire colleagues in Beijing
and Hong Kong and with representatives of
the Yunnan Flower Association to identify
potential locations for the development of a
commercial project. At this stage two
potential sites have been identified with the
preferred candidate situated approximately
one hour’s drive northwest of Kunming in
the Songming area. In addition to excellent
road and utilities infrastructure, an
additional advantage of this potential site is
that the new Kunming Airport, due to be
completed in 2009, is located on the
Songming side of the city, presenting rapid
and convenient access to market. At the
time of writing, a further visit to Kunming
was planned for November.