Mother’s Day: florists and growers facing the challenge of the “eco-responsible” bouquet

The flower will not cut it. At a time when the public is interested in the impact of its consumption on the environment, the conditions of production and the origin of the plants question certain amateurs of bouquets. Transport, forced growth in heated and lighted greenhouses as well as the use of pesticides consume many resources.

However, whatever the season, and even more so on Mother’s Day, the stalls of French florists are full. Roses, tulips, peonies are present, even in winter. According to the interprofessional organization Valhor, 80% of them are imported, which makes the country the 6th largest importer of cut flowers in the world. Thus, a large part of the roses purchased in France come from South America and East Africa by air. Holland, Kenya, Ecuador: rare are the customers who can locate the place of culture of the flowers with bouquets.

Traceability search

A situation that the National Union of Florists would like to change. Pascal Mutel, a florist based in Paris for thirty years, is the president of the union. He welcomes us to his shop in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. In his back shop, between bouquets and pots of flowers, he talks about the campaign to come: “We want to take the lead, before a European measure is imposed in this direction.” From September, the organization plans to support the profession towards greater transparency on the provenance of bouquet flowers. Several tools will be provided, to allow traders to display the origin through labeling of their products by demonstrating education.

If he proposes to florists to participate in this campaign, there is no question, for him, of imposing it. Everyone will do what they can. “Some have fears about this display, but many feel their customers need traceability,” notes the business manager, presenting the brochure from a Kenyan supplier. The ad promises “carbon neutral” production and displays a series of professional labels and environmental values. “We must also be more demanding of our suppliers”, comments Pascal Mutel.

Leaving the shop, he wants to present his peonies grown in France. “See, they are of excellent quality with large stems.” But it’s hard for him to imagine more French flowers in our bouquets, especially since the number of producers is down. “When I started, there were 65 Ile-de-France horticulturists at the Rungis market (main wholesale market for the Paris region, editor’s note), today there are only seven”, counts- he.

According to the chambers of agriculture, only 400 farms are specialized in the production of cut flowers in France, most of which are in the Côte d’Azur. “The French sector has fallen little by little, with the establishment of a global trade which brings a wide variety of assortments”, explains Brand Wagenaar, analyst of the horticultural sector.

Local production

A few kilometers from Pascal Mutel’s shop, Céline Decaris is one of the rare horticulturists in Île-de-France. Based in Paris, she cultivates bouquet flowers on a small plot of 1,100 m², on the edge of the Longchamp racecourse. Every Sunday morning, from mid-March to November, she sells her production on site.

Former communicator for a multimedia brand, she became aware of the impact of horticulture on the environment during her conversion. “We are in a system where French producers send their production to Rungis, even to Holland. All that so that it is sometimes sent to a florist 50km from their home”, points out the horticulturist, installed on a garden chair in the middle of his plot.

She built this project on a different model from conventional horticulture “in response to a deadly globalized industry”. On the land it rents, there is no use of chemical inputs or greenhouses. Squatting between two rows of flowers, Céline Decaris weeds her cultivation beds by hand. “There was already a great biodiversity, before my installation, with natural predators against parasites. This ladybug is also hard at work”, she observes, pointing to the insect on a flower.

But reducing the impact of production by being closer to buyers means selling smaller quantities. The horticulturist must also often demonstrate pedagogy with clients. “I often have to explain to them why I don’t have such and such a flower, or why I close in winter,” she says with a laugh.

It is therefore a work of patience to encourage consumers to re-familiarize themselves with the seasons “as we are beginning to do with fruits and vegetables”. While her production is stopped from November to March, Céline Decaris must complete her activity with training and bouquet creation workshops. If its operation in Paris is an exception, it believes in the return of French production. “Since my installation, I have already welcomed several trainees who now wish to settle in the provinces on large plots, to cultivate the flower”, enthuses the horticulturist, work gloves in hand.

French people fond of flowers

Small productions will not be enough to satiate the French appetite for bouquets. For Brand Wagenaar, specialist in the sector and former CEO of a distributor of horticultural equipment, it would take a “strong dynamic to give the French flower the means to develop”. This would involve installation incentives, but also communication with consumers. “You have to make the consumer understand that in France, because of the season, you can’t produce roses on Valentine’s Day,” he insists.

However, a flower from the other side of the planet is not necessarily more harmful than if it were produced in Europe. According a study published in 2011 in “The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment”, a rose imported from Ecuador has a lower impact on the environment compared to a rose from the Netherlands, including transport. In question: the high consumption of energy used by “heating, lighting and the high degree of automation” of greenhouses. “It’s a difference that we feel especially in winter, explains Brand Wagenaar, since we force the growth of flowers out of season.”

There remain local producers, who are often able to offer seasonal products. Some of them, like Céline Decaris, are listed within the Collectif de la fleur française. But beyond the small horticulturists, it is difficult to know which bouquet will be the greenest. The solution is surely in a reasoned consumption.