On 15 June 2023, together with the sustainability accelerator group, we organised an inspiring meeting called 'Certification for plant breeders'. The event took place at the beautiful premises of Waterdrinker Aalsmeer. During this meeting, floriculture growers from the Netherlands and Belgium received information on the road to FSI-compliant certification.
The welcome was provided by DFG's Raimon Lohman, who made it clear that certification will become a licence to deliver and that demands from trading companies and retail for certified products will only continue to grow.
Because...we cannot repeat the story often enough: sustainability and transparency are the key to a future-proof floriculture sector! After the welcome, the story about the importance of certification, european legislation and a look into the future of the floriculture sector was done by Koen Druijf (CSR Officer of FM group) He told what impact the CSRD legislation that FM Group too has to comply with from 2026 will have on growers.
The aim of the information sessions was to convince growers that sustainability and transparency are the keys to a future-proof floriculture sector. Therefore, we highlighted the importance of certification, European legislation and the impact of CSRD legislation. We showed growers how important certifications-are to gain insight into business processes and thus enable sustainable improvement steps. Legislation is getting stricter, with, packaging, peat-free substrate, footprinting and certification playing an increasing role. How to make measurable what impact our products have on the environment, so that consumers can ultimately make purchasing decisions based on facts and a feeling that our products really are 'Green' and responsible.
During the meeting, Danielle van Heijnigen took the growers through the different certificates and the steps they can take to obtain them. We also invited Kwekerij van Kempen to share their experiences as a fully certified grower. Sidney van der Meijden, the Operations Manager of Kwekerij van Kempen in Mijdrecht, showed in an inspiring way what certification has given them and what obstacles they have overcome. It was an honest and realistic look at the process towards certification.
Certification is a big step, but also an exciting one. That is why we will continue our meetings after the summer to inform and motivate chain partners. We will then focus specifically on foreign growers who are not yet or not fully certified, and on middlemen, paying attention to the easy transmission of certification information within the production chain.
So the message was ''We form one floriculture sector and we must do this together.'' Therefore, we call on all growers to get certified according to FSI's basket. This way, we will work together for a sustainable future!