With a value of EUR 287 million, Belgium takes sixth place on the Dutch plant and flower export list. At the start of this year, traders were concerned about the impact of the economic recession. Now, halfway through the year, it looks like wholesalers, exporters and florists are going to have quite a decent year. The explanation is that Belgian wages have risen with the inflation.
Thanks to annual indexing, whereby wages rise along with the inflation rate, there has been no decline in purchasing power in Belgium. “This is less beneficial for us, because it raises our salary costs, but it is good for demand”, says Luc De Guchtenaere of the plant and cut flower wholesale company of the same name from Lochristi, near Ghent.
De Guchtenaere, which employs 20 people, supplies Belgian florists and upmarket garden centres. The company gets its daily supplies of fresh flowers largely from the Netherlands, purchasing on the clock at Royal FloraHolland. „We are headed for the same turnover as last year,” explains the owner.
