" Demand is there , but we can not meet it because of the lack of airfreight electrical capacity " , says Ruth Muiruri , CEO of Wilmar Flowers , a Kenyan company that exports summer flowers that are grown by small and medium - sized agriculturist . They were one of the first who started to export large measure of summer flowers to the Dutch auction sale . late , they have become Global Gap license and are the first exporter go with smallholder farmers that receive the Kenya Flower Council certification . How did it all start up ? How did the company rise ? And what have been and are still the challenge ? In this clause , she explains .
Ruth Muiruri
How it all startedIn 1996 , Ruth ’s founder , Mr Wilfred Kamami , started his own farm growing and export summer flowers . Quickly after that , in ' 98 , and due to his achiever , other small summer flower agriculturist call for him to export their flowers . He decided to do so , and business went so well that in 2000 , he decide to keep out down his own farm , and concentrate only on the exportation of other growers ' flowers . And the number of grower increased sharply . " In 2001 , he make with 200 growers , and now , we work with 2000 growers " , state Ruth , who is running the stage business with her sis Alice after Mr Kamami passed away in 2015 . Wilmar became a loss leader in the exportation of summer flowers from Kenya to the Dutch auction sale . For many long time , they have been working with Vrolijk Bloemen who unpacks their blossom and prepares them for auction bridge .
Key to success?And this brings us also to one of the major challenges not only that Wilmar , but also all of the exporter are encounter ; the airfreight accessibility and prices . " Before Covid , the terms was 2 one dollar bill per kilo , now 2,5 and during Valentines , the prices even stand out to 5,5 dollar bill per kilo . " So how to deal with this challenge ? " We decided to lower the amount of stems we grow . Due to the deficiency of capacity , we can only embark about 40 percentage of what we are able to grow . "
One of their James Leonard Farmer .
Good need and pricesFortunately , need and monetary value are high . " A couple of months after the outbreak of Covid in Europe , price start to increase again and since then , they have been and are still dependable . " We are pleased with that , but we are not able to meet the need , due to freight capacity limitation . "
time to come plansAny design to expand ? " We are currently mould with 2,000 agriculturist and due to the want of air cargo capacity , we are not planning to elaborate . We desire to keep our agriculturalist , ensure them that they can embark their flowers and we will continue supporting them to grow the best quality flowers . As soon the freight ’s capacity is back to normal we be after to increase on the varieties we offer to the food market . We are very proud that we obtained the Global Gap credentials and that we are the first company that is work with smallholder farms that obtained the KFC certification . "
For more informationWilmar FlowersRuth MuimuriEmail:[email protected]www.wilmar.co.ke
© FloralDaily.com/Elita Vellekoop
