Floriculture Sustainability Initiative

FSI is pleased to welcome Topgeschenken Nederland bv as a new retail member. With over 25 years of experience in the retail and flower sector, particularly in supply chain management, Topgeschenken.nl brings valuable knowledge and insights to the FSI network.   Topgeschenken’s integration of sustainability into its operations, alongside a focus on increasing local and regional supply and enhancing social impact, aligns closely with FSI’s core objectives. Their willingness to collaborate on innovative projects, share lessons learned, and engage in transparency and ESG reporting initiatives will contribute meaningfully to FSI’s mission.   By joining FSI, Topgeschenken.nl strengthens the community’s ability to address challenges in consumer engagement, packaging innovation, and data consolidation across the supply chain. FSI looks forward to collaborating with Topgeschenken and all members to drive meaningful progress in responsible business practices within the sector.

We are excited to welcome APH Svenska AB, Sweden’s leading importer of cut flowers, to the FSI community. Established in 1899, APH has grown into a major player in the floral industry, importing a wide variety of high-quality flowers and greenery from key global production areas such as the Netherlands, Kenya, Ecuador, Colombia, Italy and Spain. APH offers a comprehensive range of fresh, beautiful flowers for wholesalers, florists and retailers across Sweden.   With a commitment to quality, reliability, and innovation, APH has built strong relationships with growers and customers alike, adapting to market trends and delivering sustainable, top-notch floral solutions.   Their deep roots and extensive expertise make them a valuable addition to our community as we collectively work towards a sustainable future for the flower industry.    We look forward to our collaboration!  

Good news that Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) has started the process with The Consumer Goods Forum #SSCI to benchmark their standard and remain in the FSI Basket of Standards, social scope. With The Sustainability Initiative of South Africa (SIZA) and FSF Florverde Sustainable Flowers (Official Page) already re-benchmarked and Kenya Flower Council and Rainforest Alliance in process we see that the floriculture industry is taking their responsability to meet these references for good social practice, and is in so many ways already working beyond just compliance. For over 10 years now the FSI Basket of standards, including the SSCI benchmark, is supporting equivalence and alignment on what good social practice looks like, avoids duplication of standards, costs and time invested by producers and has market recognition by the 400 members that include all major retailers. For them the standards in the FSI Basket are the preferred choice when sourcing flowers and plants. https://lnkd.in/ewVBaiyU

We are excited to welcome RVE Bloemen en Planten, a family business rooted in Rijnsburg, the Netherlands with over 100 employees. RVE is a vertically integrated flower and plant distributor for supermarkets in Germany and Belgium.   RVE’s comprehensive end-to-end service—ranging from purchasing and in-house logistics to category management and a shop-in-shop sales model—allows them to provide top-quality products under their own label Ervéyé, as well as delivering a wide range of supermarkets reaching thousands of consumers every day across Europe.   RVE’s commitment to sustainability, environmental responsibility, and social impact aligns with our shared vision of driving positive change across the floriculture industry. By joining FSI, RVE is taking a proactive step towards meeting global sustainability standards and reinforcing their sustainable practices.   We look forward to working together to advance sustainability and innovation in floriculture. Together, we will help shape a more sustainable, transparent, and resilient future for the industry.

Dive into our summer newsletter! Dear Network, Already halfway into the year we are excited to share the latest edition of our FSI Summer Newsletter with you! This edition is packed with exciting updates on what’s been happening at FSI * FSI Board Update: Welcoming new Board Members to our board. * New Members: Celebrating the addition of FSQ, HilverdaFlorist, Vianen Flowers, Flower Direct AS, and Coronet Flowers Group. * FloriPEFCR Benchmarking Launched: Learn about FloriPEFCR and guidelines. * Towards 100% FSI Compliant: Steps towards full FSI compliance by 2027. * Support for Small-Scale Growers: Supporting growers to become FSI Compliant. * Flori Risk Assessment Tool: FSI member collaboration to meet new market requirements. * Sustainabloom Launch: A new website by American Floral Endowment focusing on sustainability research and insights. * Floriforum 2024 Registration: Join us for a conference on sustainability in floriculture this November. Let’s continue to grow and achieve great things together. Happy reading! Read the full newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eUQhjry6

We are thrilled to announce that the benchmarking process for the FSI Basket of FloriPEFCR tools has officially begun, following the launch of the FloriPEFCR guidelines by the European Commission in the first quarter of 2024! Consumers, retailers, and governments are increasingly demanding flowers and plants to be cultivated, transported, and handled sustainably. To meet this growing demand and demonstrate compliance, the FloriPEFCR (Floriculture Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules) provides guidance to measure the environmental impact of cut flowers and potted plants using 16 environmental indicators. This ensures consistent, reliable insight into the environmental impact of ornamental horticulture products. We invite all tool providers in our industry to use this benchmarking opportunity to demonstrate meeting the standards of the FloriPEFCR method. And also to be open for collaboration through data exchange and actively stimulate business-to-business improvements. The new FSI Basket supports stakeholders by highlighting FloriPEFCR-based tooling that meet the criteria and help the sector reduce its environmental footprint. Providing verified, reliable environmental performance data is essential to keep our industry future fit. Please read the guidelines and additional documents on the FSI2025 website: https://lnkd.in/dfniy-Ma

On our way to 100% Certified and Responsibly Produced Flowers and Plants The members of the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative are dedicated to achieving a significant milestone: 90% certified flowers and plants by 2025. This year, we’ve validated our production, trade and retail members, witnessing growth on both fronts. Key highlights are that on Production side we cover over 10 billion flowers and plants, achieving 82% certification. On Trade & Retail side more than 11 billion flowers and plants, reaching 71% certification. While we’re proud of this progress, certification is not our end goal but a critical tool to manage and improve processes, enabling uniform results and supporting market growth and compliance with governmental and market requirements. On Production side we see the following challenges: 1.  Large Growers: Motivating certification through targeted campaigns. 2.  Non-Benchmarked Certified Growers: Benchmarking existing certifications to meet FSI criteria. 3.  Small-Scale Growers: Supporting specialty product producers with tailor made solutions On Trade and retail side we see the following challenges: 1.  Procurement: Making sure FSI compliant sourcing strategy is embedded and supported at CEO level 2.  Monitoring performance: Monthly monitoring and adjustments 3.  Traceability: engaging with suppliers to provide transparency and correct data Closing these gaps, supported by trade, retail, and government push, will help our industry to remain future fit. With certification as an important basis, we are able to demonstrate our commitment to continuous improvement, addressing environmental and social key topics and base our storytelling on facts. Continuous confirmation of good environmental and social practice is therefore essential. Through meticulous record-keeping, and by implementing the FloriPEFCR environmental footprint methodology, we can address significant challenges related to pesticide use, carbon emissions, fertilizer usage, and water consumption. And demonstrate good social practice on decent work indicators related to dignified work, safe workplaces, wage improvements and gender mainstreaming Flowers and plants always convey a positive story, serving as nature's gift for any occasion and offering numerous wellbeing benefits. For the industry, this presents an amazing opportunity and a responsibility to ensure that flowers and plants are a true testament to sustainable and responsible practices.

Thank you for the well organized and energizing living wage and living income summit yesterday in Amsterdam. The summit organized by IDH and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and sponsored by the United Nations Global Compact brought together over 400 leaders discussing accelerating meaningful change, sustainable economic growth and wage equality. On the various stages inspiring initiatives and innovations were shared, acknowledging the need for collective action and identifying opportunities to promote fair value distribution across supply chains. After the much celebrated banana commitments in previous years, we now see many more initiatives being underway and that is encouraging. And as flower people we are often amazed by inspiring stories told by people like janepher li Nassali who was asked to step in last minute on the main stage and delivered her story straight from the heart. She started as a flower picker on a farm, rising through the ranks to lead the Uganda Horticulture, Industrial, Service Providers and Allied Workers Union (UHISPAWU) at just 25 years old. Janepher passionately advocates for safe spaces for women workers and championing gender equality and women’s rights within the industry. On stage she highlighted the importance of supply chain dialogue and invited buyers to talk to workers, their representatives, unions and certification organisations about living wage improvements. Special thank you FNV René Kouwenhoven and Fairtrade International Wilbert Flinterman for supporting and empowering people like Janepher to also be seen and heard in summits like this, well done! Collective action for collective impact!

On June IDH launched the Climate Action Library. Sibbe Krol, from FSI member Bloom & Wild, presented their "bouquet carbon budget". By using robust data gathered through footprinting calculations, Bloom & Wild are able to choose the right mix of stems to stay within emissions targets. Over 80 members from various sector initiatives were present during the virtual launch of the Climate Action Library. Read more about the case of Bloom & Wild, as well as two other companies, by clicking the link below. We welcome the creation of a platform where good environmental practice, emerging from the sector, can shared and promoted. Collaboration and knowledge sharing are central to sector progress on environmental topics.

A warm welcome the latest FSI member FlowerDirect AS. Based in Oslo, Norway, FlowerDirect AS has over 20 years experience supplying flowers, plants and sundries to broad customer base across the country. CEO Gorm Haugen expressed that, "FlowerDirect AS is thrilled to join FSI 2025, recognizing it as an exceptional opportunity to collaborate with industry leaders, drive innovation, and enhance sustainable practices. This partnership aligns perfectly with our commitment to delivering high-quality, eco-friendly floral products while expanding our reach and impact within the global floral industry. We look forward to contributing to and benefiting from the collective expertise and forward-thinking initiatives of FSI 2025" We are pleased to have more Scandinavian representation within the membership and look forward to working together across a range of themes.