In this blog post, you will discover more about how we work ethically at 'Vermont Flowers', how we take care of our employees, what process we go through and an interview with a local employee in Kenya.
To start the production of our products, we go all the way back to Kenya. There,
Vermont Flowers's parent company has a team of hard-working people who sow and harvest the flowers. Once the flowers have been harvested, the process of selection begins.
In this step, the best flowers are selected and a part of them are transported to Belgium.
By bringing the flowers from Kenya, we help the farmers there and they can invest in a sustainable future. In Kenya, they use the cultivating technique, a method that keeps the soil healthy and stimulates the growth of the flowers.
We take care of our employees by staying in touch with them a lot, buying flowers, helping with the expansion in Kenya and visiting small farms in Kenya every year. In the future, we would also like to donate to a charity that supports farmers in Kenya.
We also care for the environment. We do this by using socially and environmentally responsible standards from Fair Trade.
INTERVIEW
In the interview with a local employee from Kenya, you will discover more about the business structure in Kenya, the harvest seasons, the production process, the link to Belgium and our ethical activities.
Business structure:
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What is our business structure?
We are a wholesale company, we ship our products to various parts of the world through our distributors.
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What makes our company unique in the market?
We produce the best in the world from Kenya due to the high altitude and wonderful climate exactly on the Equator we develop partnerships with renowned floral designers around the world to create our arrangements.
Seasons & Harvest seasons:
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What are the main plants we have in the company?
We treat and process over 200 types of plants some of these include; Hydrangeas, Roses, Carnations, Amaranths, Eucalyptus and Moss amongst other tropical foliage.
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Do all our plants come from Kenya?
Yes, we get most of the plants from Kenya thanks to the high altitude and tropical climate exactly on the Equator we have a wide variety here.
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Do we grow them ourselves?
We buy from large scale farmers in addition we have partnerships with small scale farmers for many of our plants such as Amaranthus, Asparagus, dahlias…in order to support the local community, we also grow some of the plants and foliage’s ourselves.
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Are there any specific harvest seasons?
Being a tropical country Kenya has continuity and good conditions for harvest for most of the products and with the options of small scale farms and greenhouses, we are able to harvest throughout the year.
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What are the benefits of working in Kenya?
The availability of a variety of products all year round,
The climate at 200 meters above sea level makes the best condition for the process of preservation.
The production process for Belgium & Link with Belgium:
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What is our production process for flower arrangements?
We expertise in producing different products separately to produce our arrangements which are put together with our highly experienced staff who have had training from prestigious designers.
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Do we design all our products ourselves?
We have developed partnerships with designers who are deeply inspired by our materials…., Annette Stampe, Marcel Wolternck, Christian Tortu, JosVan Dyck are just some of the most prestigious designers we created our extra ordinary collections with.
Vermont also has an arrangement collection by our very own experienced and creative team.
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How do our products go to Belgium?
We ship Via Luxembourg, our distribution centre supplies to most of Europe for the bulk and arrangements.
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Why is Vermont present in Belgium?
As a family business, Laura wanted to extend our roots and the love of preserved nature to her home country.
Ethical and Fair Trade:
To Vermont, the environment, natural resources, health, safety, and welfare of employees are of most importance. Vermont practices and follows all codes of conduct and ensures that the labour rights of workers are respected and gives back to the community in various ways. We take pride in our staff and products whistle ensuring support projects and development of their families and wellbeing from healthcare, education and more. We support farmers and suppliers through partnerships with a win-win agreement ensuring the market is on a growing level both within the company and the country’s sustainability.
Some more things we apply to be more ethical are:
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Eliminating products and activities that can pollute or degrade our environment
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Using energy-saving practices
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Ensuring the health, safety and well-being of all employees
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The majority of employees are women. They encourage women from all walks of life to be empowered.