Summary
- Cargo flights are currently charging Sh400 per kilogramme of flowers shipped to America via Amsterdam or South Africa.
- Kenya Flower Council is gathering market intelligence on the status of the American market, entry points and investment opportunities.
- The US market would raise competition for Kenyan flowers globally as currently nearly all the produce from the country is sold in Europe.
The Kenya Flower Council (KFC) projects
that the freight cost for flower exports to the US will halve with
direct flights between the two countries.
Cargo flights
are currently charging Sh400 ($4) per kilogramme of flowers shipped to
America via Amsterdam or South Africa. KFC says the charges are high
because of the transit stopover.
“It is going to be
cheaper for us to export our flowers to the US once direct flights to
America start, this will be a big boost to our growers who will see
their earnings improve,” said chief executive officer Jane Ngigi.
The council is gathering market intelligence on the status of the American market, entry points and investment opportunities.
Volumes
of flowers exports last year grew incrementally to 133,000 tonnes from
130,000 tonnes the previous year, according to data from the
Horticulture Development Centre.
Ms Ngige said the US
market would raise competition for Kenyan flowers globally as currently
nearly all the produce from the country is sold in Europe.
“Exports
to the US implies we will have diversified our markets and we will no
longer have to rely on Europe as our major buyer; this will make our
produce competitive because of an alternative market,” she said.
Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was this year granted Category
One status by American authorities, enabling direct flights from Nairobi
expected to start in the next few months.
Dick
Van Ramsdonk, president of HPP Exhibitions, said Kenyan flowers are
gaining popularity in the US but remain costly to transport.
“Kenya’s
flowers are a sensation in the US but until the categorisation, it has
been costly and lengthy to ship the country’s flowers to the world’s
biggest market of our flower after the EU,” said Mr Ramsdonk.
He
said with the flights, more American buyers will be coming to Nairobi
next month during the sixth edition of the International Flower Trade
Expo, noting that they have received a lot of confirmations and
increasing inquiries from.
Kenya is currently
contributing over 35 per cent share to the global flower trade that
continues to grow despite stiff competition from Ecuador, Ethiopia and
Colombia.
Last year the industry brought in a total of
Sh71 billion, making up 70 per cent of earnings from horticultural
exports. The industry also accounts for 17 per cent of the country’s
GDP.
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