It is all smiles as Victorian flower growers  bask in the attention given to their product on display at IFEX, Asia's largest floral trade show , held in  Tokyo in October '06.

 

Japan continues to be the largest importer of flowers from Australia. Demand stays consistent, but as competitive growers  continue to enter this  already crowded market place,   the decision by AFEC to  return to  promotion in Japan is all in good timing.

 

 It is now seven years since the association  last oversaw a marketing plan that averaged four trips  a year to Japan by an Australian flower conglomerate.  Promotional investment was diverse , but concentration on road shows, where Australian florists would demonstrate to local designer audiences, reaped rewards, including   close respect and friendship between the designers of the two countries.  Australian Flowers were encouraged to be used in traditional Japanese design, and with floral  media support, our flowers became popular additions  to the Japanese lifestyle.

 

AFEC's return to Japan   began with  the IFEX exhibition,  due to its  assurance of a large trade audience.

We weren't disappointed.

Along with wholesalers,  Japan's  most prominent designers flocked to the  Australian stand with a warmth that was more like a " welcome  home "  The Australian exhibit was a flamboyant  and colourful affair,  with October presenting seasonal  brilliance. The waratahs and serruria , waxflower and thryptomine created a display that  many described as breathtaking. However,  credit must be given to designer Richard Go, who bought together an amazing display of flowers and choreographed them into a performance. With the assistance of David Daniels, of Misty Down Proteas, the display  reminded the Japanese industry  just what they have been missing out on!

Although Japanese wholesalers offer a wide and continual  supply  of Australian Flowers, what good is supply,  without the motivation to use it? There is no denying  that the  continual influence of innovative design is the greatest tool in encouraging long term sales.

Richard Go  has long been AFEC's resident designer.  His designs are as feisty as his own stage performances , which AFEC ultimately encourages.  Indeed,  AFEC's  marketing plan expands into  a diverse range of goals , which go beyond displaying  and  exhibiting our flowers!   We no longer exhibit,  for placing flowers in a vase  will not attract the end user. In goals that look to maximum return for every effort, we take the  flowers from  stand to the stage,  and from stage to page through media connections.  

 

We achieve this, quite simply, by making the most of what we have, beginning with our designers, the front face  of our industry.  IFEX 2007 will see  Australian Flowers  in the hands of Richard Go, on stage to the worlds leading floral and fashion  influences.  As for being seen on page, as part of the agreement made with Austrade, AFEC now awaits the arrival of  a team representing leading Japanese magazine, Flower Design.  Spending ten days in Australia , with a brief that looks to capturing "the spirit of Australian Flowers", Australian growers can look forward  to having both face and flower promoted in January and March editions of this popular magazine. With distribution being over 60,000  and only to trade,  we can expect recognition that follows on from that fleeting   ten minute drift around a flower exhibit.

 

 Austrade are excited about the success of  Australian Flowers at IFEX 2006, and have pledged support again for IFEX 2007. Regional Victoria, who also supported  the event through  stand rental, were so impressed with what IFEX offered that they made sure  Victorian flower growers  were there for a slice of the action.  Five Victorian growers grasped the opportunity to be part of the project ,  an experience that  provided a wealth of information in the actual sighting of our  " growing competition."     Whilst the five were both amazed, and amused, in seeing what the competition were doing,the value of the experience was found in representing their own  industry. The  Australian Flower stand was the best example that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence.

 

The success of IFEX  celebrated the homecoming of Australian Flowers  to Japan.  Japanese designers, who worked on  our stand , were thrilled to work under the guidance of our designer. A decade ago saw such roles reversed, for it was the Australians who were humbled  to work with the Japanese florists .  The roles have not turned , but the  growth  we are seeing is our own industry recognising the strength of each other .

 

THE JAPANESE   TOUR   OF AUSTRALIAN FLOWERS  is an incentive of AFEC and Austrade Tokyo  in  recognising  the future of Australian Flowers in Japan   requires  effective promotion. Showing the producers of Australian Flowers encourages  a rural look at our flowers and their sometimes romantic, sometimes adventurous background. 

 

As IFEX  installed within Japanese designers the flamboyance and pizzazz of Australian Flowers, the  role of design, and how to use our flowers, will be featured in the next instalment. Portraying the rural background is important in a culture that adores human story.  Representatives of the magazine, chaperoned by Austrade, will land in Melbourne on November 11th for a ten day tour which is contained to the East Coast due to time restraints. Visiting selected farms, where growers can be interviewed and photographs taken, will  supply editorial to be featured in January and March editions of Flower Design.