As there was zero air freight from Nairobi to Norway , getting the Kenyan flower to Oslo was the biggest challenge in the middle of March , explain Norwegian flower importer Erlend van Deurs Lindberg of Svein Nesse . After two calendar month of shipping their Kenyan bloom by truck from the Netherlands to Norway , the airfreight start up in May , just in clock time for the country ’s National Holiday celebration on May 17 . And since then , their volumes are nigh at the same level as last class , but due to the high freight costs and weak Norse krone , margins are still lower than last year . However , all in all Lindberg is n’t unsatisfied with the year so far . " fortuitously , Norway is a prime lie with country and when await at other land , it could have been much worse . "
Erlend van Deurs Lindberg .
Noflights , so trucksSvein Nesse was one of the first Norwegian company that started importing roses from Kenya . They started in the 80 ’s and for the first meter in their chronicle , due to COVID-19 , they meet drastic logistic challenge in mid - March . " melodic phrase freight from Nairobi into Norway stopped completely . Normally we have air despatch out of Nairobi three sentence a week and now it was zero . " So , an alternative had to be found and they did it by bringing the blossom in from Holland by motortruck . " Cargo from Nairobi to Aalsmeer was still continuing . "
But of course , also there , logistics were challenging and Lindberg is therefore very proud of and feels lucky that he was capable to get all the efflorescence he require . " Costs were much higher and capacity was lower . However , we ’ve seen that the growers who send out cargo weekly also got quad in the airplane and the others not . Our biggest supplier is Mt. Elgon Orchards , for exemplar , is such a agriculturalist that continued day-after-day obstetrical delivery and therefore got space in the plane . "
flush need apace picked upThe first week , some bloom shops closed their door , but quickly reopen and received a lot of orders . Particularly the net monastic order during Easter skyrocketed , he explain . " Many the great unwashed worked - and are still crop - from home and stayed home when they could so internet orders increased sharply .
High flower consumption per capitaA good decimal point to mention is that Norway is one of the high flower consume land in Europe ; it has the mellow per capita total white plague of flowers . " Norwegian are used to buy roses and other blossom for their own wasting disease . Most people buy efflorescence every other week and rise , which is mainly being imported out of Kenya and Ethiopia , is the routine one blossom . The tulip takes second patch . "
Just like in many other countries , the demand for roses increases for special holidays like Valentine ’s Day , Father ’s Day , Mother ’s Day and national vacation " , say Lindeberg . Annually , Svein Nesse import 18 million rose and 15 percent of this volume is especially used for these variety of holiday .
Holidays fell on beneficial days this yearEven though Norway has the same holiday as many other countries , these are being celebrated on different date , which sometimes bear upon the using up of bloom . Mother ’s Day and Valentine ’s Day for exemplar succeed each other quickly . Mother ’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in February and Valentine ’s Day on February 14 . " Sometimes these days are celebrated on the same day , but this year , it in reality fell on really good days , with Mother ’s Day being celebrated on February 9 . need was very good in the calendar week in advance and fortunately , it was all before the pandemic begin " , say Lindberg . Another important flower vacation is National Constitution Day , which is being observe on May 17 . " Fortunately our direct flight begin just before , so we were capable to get all products in on time , and liken to the prices the Dutch had to pay - about 100 % more for shipment flight - we were lucky our unmediated flights were running again even though the price were high . "
flight still fluid but bringing in the flowersFlower are arriving , but the freighter schedule is not stable yet . " Usually , post COVID-19 , flowers go far three times a week send by three different freighters . Now , it disagree per calendar week ; we mostly have two merchant ship and sometimes three . "
Lower marginsFor May , June and July , the amount of flowers Lindberg import was about the same compared to last year , however leeway are lower this twelvemonth . " The transport cost and the feeble Norwegian krone are a solvent . Fortunately , we were able-bodied to increase the flower prices a bit to remunerate for the loss . "
Not unsatisfiedAll in all Lindberg is not unsatisfied with the past months . " Of course , March and April were terrible , but all other month , we were at the same level as last yr , and this without any outcome that have bring piazza . Norwegians are flower loving mass and the advice of staying home and working from home likely increase the requirement further . "
Coming monthsFor the coming weeks , Lindberg has good hopes . " Most school are about to start , very few the great unwashed are travelling and they desire to make their houses beautiful when spending a lot of sentence at abode . "
For more informationSvein NesseErlend van Deurs LindbergEmail:[email protected ]
