PRESS RELEASE – 30th November 2006
NEW INTERNATIONAL FAIR FLOWERS FAIR PLANTS ORGANISATION SECURES FIRST UK RETAILING MEMBER
ArenaFlowers.com leads the UK in ethical floristry
We are very fond of flowers and like to see they are well looked after, which is why ArenaFlowers.com is the first UK florist to sign-up with the Fair Flowers Fair Plants (FFP) foundation. The FFP label is applied to flowers and plants grown by farmers throughout the world employing strict socially and environmentally ethical working practices.
Once a flower or plant has been given an FFP label, it stays with them from field to market to importer to retailer and finally onto the customer, with each link in the chain adhering to FFP’s rules.
Customers buying FFP bouquets from us can rest assured that the growers undergo regular and intensive internationally agreed scrutiny by the relevant authorities in the country of origin. Sustainable, cultivated flowers and plants are grown in a way that respects both people and the environment.
We are one of the few UK florists to buy our flowers direct from Holland’s flower auctions. This means that our flowers are among the freshest available and that we cut out the middlemen to pass savings on to our customers.
Our Dutch masterpiece, Ronald van den Burg, gets up at 3am every morning to scour the markets for the very best deals on FFP products. He carefully packs the flowers before sending them off to London, which means we can have them delivered to customers from as little as 36 hours after they were first cut, leading to a longer life in the vase. Few others are so committed to giving flowers such nice treatment.
Commenting on the importance of FFP, Will Wynne, Managing Director of ArenaFlowers.com, said: “When people buy flowers it is often for an emotional occasion, but rather sadly there are some unscrupulous farmers out there showing no emotion in shamelessly exploiting their workers and the environment for personal gain.
“Fortunately, the industry is taking collective action and with this new umbrella FFP label, flower lovers can send a clear message with their spending power, helping change attitudes in fields and greenhouses across the world. We’re very proud to be the first UK florist to sell FFP products and it’s is already proving a big hit with our customers.”
The UK fresh cut flower and indoor plant market is worth over £2bn annually. FFP flowers and plants aren’t always available for us to buy, but we do our best to get hold of them – they are highlighted on our website by an FFP logo. By ensuring we only buy and import FFP products when they are available, we hope to brighten up peoples’ lives even further when a delivery is made – both those of the recipients and those of the plantation workers – and offer security that their money is ethically spent.
Fair Trade flowers have existed for sometime, but it is only growers in developing countries that can join that scheme. FFP is a global programme designed specifically for the flower and plant industry, which means growers in Holland, where a large number of the flowers we source are grown, also produce FFP products by meeting the highest ethical standards.
