FEB-MARCH 2013 ISSUE Final.ai - Hortinews.co.ke

|| HORTINEWS CHAT||
IFTEX: ‘I was sure of a full house’
The second edition of the International Flower
Trade Expo (IFTEX) Nairobi will take place on June
5-7, 2013, at the Visa Oshwal Centre in Westlands,
Nairobi. Catherine Riungu had a chat with Dick van
Raamsdonk, President HPP, and the organiser.
Dick van Raamsdonk
After staging the first IFTEX
in Nairobi last year, you were
happy with the outcome,
one of the reasons why the
second edition of the event
is back this year. What would
you attribute this success to
considering you indicated
the inaugural show exceeded
expectations
The fact that Kenya is the
only country in the world
where the production area of
flowers structurally increases
is a strong indicator that the
sector — overall — is in good
shape. Moreover, growth in a
worldwide economical turmoil
shows that the sector has to
row against the stream and
still move forward. This cannot
mean anything different than
strength for even more growth
when coming into calm waters.
Therefore, IFTEX is an excellent
instrument for the Kenyan
floriculture Industry to support
and accelerate this growth.
What was your most
“unexpected” occurrence at
the show,for instance did you
expect a smaller number
IFTEX 2012 was held at the spacious and strategically located Visa Oshwal Centre
No, I did not expect a lower
number of exhibitors. I was
100 per cent confident that
this trade fair could not fail and
would be a “full house”. The
only big unknown factor was
how to convince the Kenyan
growers that this would work
— to make them believe in it.
Like never before in my 28-year
career of organising flower
trade expos anywhere in the
world, I had so many excellent
building parts in my hand
to create the almost perfect
flower trade exhibition. Being
a flower trade expo specialist,
I got very excited the moment
I added it all up and suddenly
visualiSed the ideal place for an
African flower trade expo could,
would and should be Kenya
and Kenya only. I then decided
to hold as many meetings with
the growers as needed until
they would be convinced to
give it a try and take a booth. It
was somehow still unexpected
though when I finally managed
to get enough on board.
Even though it was the first
time for such event in Kenya,
a total of 140 companies
exhibited. Out of these, 93
were Kenyan companies which
included 61 local growers. The
Kenya Flower Council(KFC)
also facilitated us by mobilising
its producer members who
included Magana Flowers, Sian
Roses, Finlays Horticulture,
Mweiga Blooms, Maridadi
Flowers, Oserian, Xpressions,
P.J. Dave flowers, Black Petals,
Harvest Ltd, Elbur Flora, Isinya,
Mosi, Simbi Roses, Desire
Flora, Mt Elgon, Kreative Roses,
Primarosa, and Vegpro Group.
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HORTICULTURAL NEWS I FEB / MAR 2013