Dutch Minister Ploumen visit a sea transport project of flowers in Kenya
In October 2013 the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen visited the port of Mombasa for detailed information about the transport of roses by sea to the Netherlands. She welcomes the use of sea freight for flowers, she said, because it is more sustainable and less expensive than other forms of transport.
Transport of flowers by sea freight to the Netherlands is being promoted by GreenCHAINge. The GreenCHAINge project is dedicated to more sustainable, less expensive transport in the floricultural sector.
The GreenCHAINge project is coordinated by the Vereniging van Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijprodukten. The VGB is the sector organisation in the Netherlands for the wholesale trade in flowers and plants. Other participants of this project are Dutch trading companies: the Dutch Flower Group, FleuraMetz and Hilverda de Boer. Also participating in this project are Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, FlowerWatch an agency specialising in cold chain advice, the Kenyan Flower Council and the Maersk Line.
Minister Ploumen visited the port of Mombasa for more information about the GreenCHAINge project. The participants of the GreenCHAINge project arranged a demonstration sea freight container. This container cave the Dutch Minister a clear view of the opportunities and benefits sea freight has. The Netherlands want to be leading in making the floricultural market more environmental friendly sustainable and cost saving. Minister Ploumen was impressed by the promising results and wishes the GreenCHAINge project much success in future developments.
