Paris (AFP)

The Netherlands, a global stronghold for the cut flower business, markets flowers from France every day ... in France. To counter this hegemony and sell homemade bouquets that consume less carbon, the "slow-flower" trend is starting to grow in Europe.

In the suburbs of Amsterdam, the incessant ballet of forklifts has resumed its course in recent weeks, as the deconfinement of world trade has continued.

"In this market, we sell 30,000 different varieties", proudly explains to AFP Michel Van Schie, spokesperson for the Royal Flora Holland cooperative, a Dutch horticultural giant to which flowers from all over the world transit every day.

The figures vary according to the sources but according to Thierry Louveau, boss of the French subsidiary of another Dutch giant, FleuraMetz, "70% of the world production of flowers passes through Holland, even if it is not necessarily manufactured. in Holland".

Holland's love affair with horticulture goes back long, even going so far as to cause the first stock market crash in history in the 17th century - when speculation based on the tulip bulb trade drove their prices up. to peaks before collapsing.

"The acceleration of the market" dates, according to Mr. Louveau, from the 1950s with the creation of clock markets, managed by large cooperatives. These markets allow sales through a reverse electronic auction system where the price gradually drops until a buyer is found.

A supremacy helped by the Dutch state which still subsidizes in particular the energy consumption of Dutch greenhouses.

Holland can also rely on relocated production to countries in the southern hemisphere that are sunny all year round and have cheap labor, sometimes becoming as crucial for the economy of these countries as for that of the Netherlands.

Like in Kenya, where the flowers are grown before being sent to the Netherlands and then distributed everywhere.

"The sector directly employs 200,000 people on farms and represents more than a million induced jobs, providing a livelihood for 4 million people," Clement Tulezi, president of the Kenya Flower Council, an umbrella organization for the horticultural sector, told AFP. from the country.

- The formidable Dutch logistics -

Above all, it has extremely efficient logistics that are difficult to compete with its norias of trucks which crisscross the European continent.

To be marketed, "there are flowers produced in France that leave for Amsterdam and return to France", explains Benjamin Perot, one of the co-founders in 2016 of Monsieur Marguerite, an eco-responsible florist, citing part of the French production of peonies.

Another example: "The Nice tulip is produced in the Nice region (south-eastern France), it is bought by a wholesaler, it goes back physically as far as Holland where it is evaluated on the market on the dial which fixes its value and then it is redispatched "in France, sometimes even in Nice potentially," explains Hortense Harang, co-founder of the Fleurs d'Ici platform.

Faced with this fierce competition, many French flower growers had no choice but to go out of business or change their methods.

"There is the price of land that pushes you out, the arduousness of the job, the pensions so small that the temptation to sell is great and the competition: we never increase our prices!", Summarizes Marie-Line Lanari, former producer of carnations converted into the lily, on her farm overlooking the seaside resort of Cagnes-sur-Mer, on the Côte d'Azur.

Val'Hor, French interprofession of the sector, now figures at 85% the proportion of imported flowers. "In 1972, there were 30,000 horticultural farms in France, today there are 3,500", deplores Hortense Harang.

- "Slow-flower" -

Like others, Ms. Harang displays the desire to contain or even reverse this trend and reduce the carbon footprint of flowers, encouraged by ever stronger consumer demand since the Covid-19 epidemic.

"What emerges from the crisis is still a desire to buy French, a desire to buy local, with a phenomenon which is somewhat modeled on that of food, which is called + slow- flower +, which comes to us from the United States ", confirms to AFP the president of Val'Hor, Mikaël Mercier.

A challenge, according to Mr. Perot: "There are wholesalers who try to ensure that the share of French flowers increases, but today the assurance of 100% French is very complicated to maintain when you do not is not an integrated player like us ".

In question, a failing network of the territory, by the admission of all the actors questioned.

By appealing to the Dutch market, a florist in Biarritz (southwest of France) can have today, by pressing a button the day before for the next day, "any flower" in his shop, a speed " unthinkable "inside France" not structured enough ", according to Mr. Perot.

To counter this weakness, Ms. Harang has created an integrated management software (ERP) with the Flowers here start-up which, in France but also in Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom, connects "a horticulturalist with an independent florist, a low-carbon distribution unit (bicycle or electric vehicle) and a local customer ".

The relocation phenomenon is far from being confined to France: in the United Kingdom, leader of the movement in Europe, the Flowers from the farm cooperative, which brings together producers of all sizes, had between 400 and 500 members at the end of 2018. . She now claims "more than 800".

According to Ms. Harang, Italy, where the "slow-food" movement was born, and Belgium are also "deep".

Start-ups and florists are not the only ones positioning themselves to meet this demand for "local" flowers in Europe, which also attracts ... the Dutch themselves.

To make transport profitable, "what we imagined is to be able to add (in the trucks) French green plants to French flowers", explains Mr. Louveau, from the Dutch group FleuraMetz. A project that was scheduled for March / April, but postponed by the health crisis.

While the paralysis of economic activity due to the epidemic has in recent months highlighted the risks of supply chain disruption in an ultra-globalized world and brought local, industrial, pharmaceutical and other production up to date. textile, the desire to highlight flowers made in France is more tangible than ever, underlines Sylvie Robert, director of the association Excellence Végétale, which is developing the Fleurs de France label created in 2015.

"We will reach close to 2,000 engaged companies, all trades combined," said Ms. Robert, according to whom during the first six months of 2020, "notorious distribution brands" like Auchan joined the process.

After the peak of the health crisis, "it is not a small boom but a good big boom" that she was able to observe, with "up to ten requests per day" from April against "a or two "usually.

- The rose, a thorn in the side of short circuits -

A major obstacle stands in the face of this dynamic: the rose, which represents "45% of the flower market", recalls Mr. Louveau.

While he does not deny the "desire for seasonal flowers", he says he is convinced that consumers "will still want to offer roses all year round". However, according to Fleurs d'Ici, in Europe "the rose season begins in May-June and ends in November".

A point that makes Kenyan flower growers optimistic after the industry shutdown during the health crisis: "We may not see double-digit growth like in the last decade," says Tulezi, but Kenyan producers "will always be more efficient".

Especially since there is currently no regulatory obligation for the florist to indicate the origin of the flowers, "unlike food," laments Masami Lavault, urban floriculturalist in Paris.

In spite of everything, even if the beginnings can be difficult, "there is a real tendency for the installation of young producers", observes Mr. Perot.

- "Close to people" -

Masami Lavault is a pioneer in the relocation of flowers to France. Behind the Belleville cemetery in Paris, at dawn we can see her leaning over a field of 1,200 square meters where, armed with pruning shears, she pruns and cares for damask nigella, cosmos, calendulas, wolves ... Between 200 and 250 species in total.

"It's too much: in general in agriculture, we try not to complicate our lives. But for me, it's very important to have a great diversity, for the choice that it allows for the customers and also because that a place where there are lots and lots of different plants is a place that is more resilient, ”she explains.

Two days a week, the thirty-something picks her multicolored residents, biodynamically treated without chemical agents, which she sells to florists and individuals.

"The most interesting thing is to do direct sales. For people, it's great to be able to come here, to see how it works, to see a field of flowers (...). The goal of the micro-agriculture means being as close as possible to the people who will consume the product. "

ngu-smt-fal-clr / ak / dp

© 2020 AFP