The theme for this year’s stand situated in the Royal Pavilion at Chelsea was “The Floral Markets”, taking our inspiration from heritage British markets, including Covent Garden Piazza, The Floral Hall and Borough Market.

As befits a celebration of Britain, showcasing more British flowers and plants than ever before, supplemented by expertly grown blooms from Holland, France, Colombia and our farms in Kenya. The floral pavement showcases Sweet Williams from Lincolnshire and the planted living walls and pavements showcases plants and herbs from Lincolnshire, Holland and Denmark. The planted living wall is sustained by a vertical tray system allowing irrigation of the plants in situ. The planted pavement and living wall resonated with the public, such a simple but stunning feature that can be replicated in any garden.

The stunning floral sun window, the focal point of the stand, represents a sunrise through a light-filled window which is decorated with delphiniums, alliums, gladioli, stocks, gerbera, roses, lisianthus, hydrangea and stunning “coral sunset” peonies, which floods the space with golden dappled sunlight. The floral window is framed by “market stalls” packed with seasonal flower and bouquets: a true celebration of a great British summer.

Interesting Facts…

• Over 10,000 cut flower stems used overall in the exhibit
• 450 man hours to create the floral and plant aspects of the stand over the Saturday and Sunday
• 480 Q boxes of cut flowers used
• 32 florist hours to create the stunning floral window, the main focal point of the stand
• The floral window contained 3500 stems of cut flowers
• The living wall and planted pavement contained 2500 plants
• 14 lorries delivered flowers and plants to the stand on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday
• Raised over £2000 for Charities “Thrive” and “The Floral Angels” during the “4.00pm Saturday Sell Off”
• 10 months of planning, two pre-builds and 18,400 stems of cut flowers and 5500 plants used overall
• Awarded highest standard of “excellence” in all categories, Product Quality, Overall Impression and Endeavour for the second year running.
• Fourth consecutive Gold Medal at Chelsea

With almost 400 Hertfordshire Businesses nominated at the start of the awards process and with initial votes being completely controlled by the general public, the finalists were chosen and had to present their business case and vision for the future to the panel of judges from local Hertfordshire industry professionals. Ian Michell and Candice Ferreira braved the dragons den and presented our case to the judges.

We are really pleased to announce that Flamingo collected two awards on Friday 2nd March at the Biz4Biz awards sponsored by Barclays and presented by Eamonn Holmes.

The two awards were the Best Importer of the Year 2018 and the Overall Business of the Year 2018.

Representatives from the Produce business collected the awards on behalf of the company who managed to struggle through the snow to get to the Awards Gala Dinner.

Well done team Flamingo.

The team at Flamingo Horticulture South Africa took part on the ‘67 blankets’ campaign as part of the celebrations to mark Mandela day. Mandela Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on the 18th July, the date of the late president’s birthday.

Started when philanthropist Carolyn Steyn was set a challenge by Zelda la Grange (a former assistant of Nelson Mandela) to knit, sew or crochet 67 blankets, with the idea that these blankets would then be distributed to those in need on Mandela Day. Realising the size of the challenge in front of her and that she wouldn’t be able to achieve it alone, Carolyn called on her friends for help and created a Facebook group called “67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day”. In a matter of days, hundreds of people from around the world had pledged to knit a blanket for Nelson Mandela Day and the campaign has since transformed into a movement that has captured the attention of many people in South African and across the globe.

This year, led by members of the welfare committee, the team in South Africa decided that it wanted to get involved and 16 ladies knitted blankets that were donated to Ikusasa Community Development Centre. The company supported the venture through the donation of materials but also in allowing the employees some paid time-off to make the blankets and stitch by stitch the blankets were made to help keep thousands upon thousands of people who are less fortunate than ourselves warmer during the winter.

 

Mampe Ditshego, from the HR department of Flamingo Horticulture South Africa, stated “it was really great to see the site come together and support this fantastic initiative. This event will enable someone less fortunate to be kept warm over many years and it has been fantastic for the site to be involved in what is a great event in celebration of the birthday of our beloved Nelson Mandela.”

 

We are pleased to announce that the Flamingo Horticulture Group has finalised the acquisition of Butters Group Ltd with effect from 18th September 2017. The Flamingo Horticulture Group has businesses in the UK, continental Europe and Africa whilst in parallel working with a number of supply partners across the globe. Flamingo is a major supplier of fresh cut flowers and produce to the UK and continental Europe. In the UK Flamingo has sites in Stevenage, Sandy, Spalding and Weston and employs just under 1,000 people in the UK.

The Butters Group has an operation in Spalding, Lincolnshire with over 300 staff working across their flower, plant and nursery divisions. Butters has operated a highly successful business in both the UK retail and home delivery markets developing strong partnerships with major high street supermarkets and DIY outlets such as Marks & Spencer, J Sainsbury, Waitrose, ASDA, Wilko and B&Q.

As a major supplier into the UK retail market, the acquisition by Flamingo offers the perfect opportunity to consolidate areas of knowledge and expertise and build on the strong commercial relationships that exist in both businesses. David Brown, Managing Director of Flamingo Flowers Ltd, stated “we are extremely excited by this acquisition. We believe it is a complementary fit to our existing Horticulture businesses and will allow us to take another step forward in growing the Flamingo Horticulture group as a whole”

 

1. Award for Leadership on People & Communities

Traidcraft, M&S, Flamingo Produce and Flamingo Kenya Horticulture Outgrowers worked together to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in Lewa as well as Meru’s Growers and Pack House workers by increasing their influence in supply chain decisions and with policy makers. The project worked with the whole supply chain to develop a mutually beneficial agreement that incorporates human rights considerations, so that farmers sell their produce in a transparent and fair manner, and Pack House workers can experience better working conditions.

The project was funded by Comic Relief and involved a full evaluation and monitoring process. A key part of this project was holding full supply chain meetings where smallholder farmers, pack house workers, Flamingo Produce UK and M&S all discussed how to improve ways of working together along the supply chain. Key results included;

• Improved employment conditions for workers
• Improved capacity, governance and performance of respective workers’ committees and farmers’ groups
• Predictable and secure incomes for 300 smallholder farmers
• Smallholder farmers, pack house workers, exporters, importers and retailers working together to mutually agree on a model for better sharing risks and benefits
• On-going work streams with small holders and the development of growing “pledges”

“The project enabled better trust and understanding between farmers and the supply chain team, ensuring that even during tough growing conditions with regions in drought, the growers trusted and supported their pledge to Flamingo and M&S” (Dickson Kimani – Outgrower Production Manager, Flamingo Kenya)

2. Award for Individual contribution to Sustainability

Awarded to Martin Hudson, CEO, Flamingo Horticulture, “For 30 years of managing a holistic sustainable business, pioneering Dudutech IPM company and for being an exemplar in water stewardship”.

It was our pleasure again this year to take part in the Chelsea Flower Show.

Our design team, Sam and Hannah, were on hand to place each flower in the right spot to create a fantastic display and also gain us our 3rd Gold Award in the Great Pavilion Awards. The garden was called the Marks & Spencer “Spirit of Summer: A Mediterranean journey” and we had some of the best press coverage to date when Hannah made the front page of the Telegraph on the Monday when the Queen and judges had their private viewings, before opening to the public.

Hours of planning, designing and conditioning of the flowers goes into these displays, as well as thousands of flowers and it is a credit to all involved. Well Done team – looking forward to next year’s design!

We are focused on performance and growth which is great for East Africa. We also care about planet earth and are leaders in best practice for reducing our environmental footprint. The fragile ecosystems around us require unity from business and the community if we are to protect them for future generations.

Flamingo supports an array of grass-roots charitable initiatives and is delighted to strengthen and enlarge its partnership with the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust. Recently, Flamingo and Rhino Ark signed a binding contract which cements the onward supply of 500 free plastic posts per month which are used to fence the Aberdare, Mau Eburu and Mount Kenya forests.

Posts are manufactured on Flamingo’s Kingfisher Farm in Naivasha using waste plastic from rose greenhouses. The plastic is put through a heat and pressure process creating durable and termite-proof posts which not only protect delicate ecosystems but also safeguard Kenya’s forests which are so vital for water security.

To date, 60% of all posts used by Rhino Ark on forest boundaries have come from the joint Flamingo – Rhino Ark production facility but it doesn’t stop there, we are now scoping plans to duplicate the process across the Flamingo estate so that more posts can be produced in proximity to their eventual forest boundary destination; this will cut transport cost and speed up forest protection initiatives.

This is a fantastic project solving waste and recycling issues whilst simultaneously protecting wildlife and habitat for the benefit of onward species diversity, tourism and wider agricultural production in Kenya.

Flamingo continues on its path to create value and to protect the people and the environment around us.

The Flamingo Sponsored team car that came 8th out of 66 cars and won the “Best New Entry Award”.

On January 11th, 2017, Flamingo Horticulture Kenya donated 47 of their donkeys to community members, who were selected by Farming Systems Kenya (FSK). Brooke (EA) was the link between Flamingo and the community members. Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (KSPCA) were present on the day to monitor and advise.

One of the major reasons that there is a need for the donkeys in the community is due to theft and easy sale of stolen donkeys to the slaughter house. Families reliant on their donkeys for their income have been left in precarious financial positions as a result of this, with kids now not able to attend school and all the knock on effects of losing their bread winner.

The day brought together 100 guests made up of:

• Press: Ntv, K24, Citizen, MBCI Ebru, New owners
• Group members from the various groups where the donkeys are going
• Representatives of Brooke, Farming systems, and KSPCA
• Dignitaries including: Hells Gate Chief and the Sub County Vet Officer

FSK started the workshop of the day. The donkeys were wormed, their hooves cleaned, and were given an ID number so that they can be followed in the system. FSK are following them and will in time give them a permanent tattoo that goes into the database. Assurance has been given that the new owners are all established members of Farming systems and Brookes working groups.

Christmas is a time for giving and this year in Kenya the Flamingo team have changed the face of the hampers to suit the needs of the staff.

On 22nd December 8000 staff hampers (food safe storage bins) were distributed to all members of the workforce. It was one area that the senior management was keen to get right and ensure all the loyal workers were rewarded after so much change in 2016. The impact of these hampers containing essential items hampers such as Maize meal, Cooking oil, Flour, Rice, Juice, Margarine and Sugar, but also new extras such as Kids sweets, shoe polish and moisturiser.  Would be felt by some 50,000 dependents of the staff of Flamingo, that is similar to the population of Welwyn Garden City in UK

The new design this year to have a re-useable flamingo food safe storage unit rather than disposable cardboard hamper, are well received and works towards a company wider campaign against food waste and healthy safe food for all.

All staff in both regions Naivasha and Timau received their hampers and returned home after a very busy Christmas

Flamingo Produce is very pleased to announce that we have recently won an award for our work with our UK growers and “Championing British Campaign”.

We have worked closely with our UK growers and in particular Cobrey farms on our unique British Pink Rhubarb variety “Flamingo Champagne”.

Candice Ferreira (Flamingo) and John Chinn (Cobrey) collected the award from Rob Collins (Waitrose) at the recent supplier conference.