After leaving LatinFlor we went on to the Dann Carlton hotel in Quito to meet with a group of people from Japan Floral Marketing Association.  JFMA is a collaboration of industry professionals from all segments, the mission of JFMA is to boost floral consumption in Japan and to make high quality floral products available to consumers at a reasonable price.



Nobuya Kaishita of Chrysal Japan was translator for those attending that were not bilingual. We use several Chrysal USA’s products in our store to care for cut flowers. Nobu organized the trip to Quito. JFMA members visited AgriFlor and several of the farms in Ecuador. After leaving Ecuador the group traveled to Colombia to visit farms there.  

 

The Japanese group was excited and enthusiastic about the Flowers For Kids program and asked all of us lots of questions. They are very interested in the program as it fits so well with their mission.

 

At the presentation I also met Hideaki Inoue, President of Aoyama Flower Market in Tokyo, a retail store. Flowers For Kids presented program to another group in Japan, JELFA. While there Ramiro showed me via web cam a petit bouquet from Aoyama. The dining bouquet is 8” tall and consists of five stems of flowers including a rose, hypericum, a sunflower and greens wrapped in thick brown paper and displayed in an old wooden crate.

 

I enjoyed meeting everyone from JFMA at the presentation and saw members several times throughout my time in Ecuador.

 

 

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