Fair Flowers Fair Plants and MPS have agreed to explore the possibilities to cooperate in marketing the FFP label. The organizations have corresponding ambitions in mainstreaming sustainability in order to reach a larger part of the consumers. The marketing of the consumer label will be done with more strength and broader support with a higher number of producers and traders sourcing. The specialized retail channel with florists and garden centers is the prime target channel, retail chains are welcome to use the label as well. The marketing of the label will be done by MPS, an organization with experience and a strong position in the market and with the ambition and financial strength to get the label through its first period of small market reach and financial dependency.
The level of social and environmental sustainability for the label is established by the current FFP standard and therefore the label is open to be used by all products under schemes that are benchmarked by FFP (like MPS, KFC, FGP, Fiore Giusto, FLP, Control Union). The values that support the label are at least equal to the values of the current FFP foundation.
The label is governed by a truly international board with stakeholders from production, trade and civil society. This support is valued highly because it will guarantee that a large share of the international producers, traders and retailers chooses to participate and that consumers have the trust and will buy more sustainable products. MPS will take care of professional marketing and will be involved in the governance structure in order to guarantee sound operations and scale efficiencies.
This cooperation is linked to the foreseen creation of the international pre-competitive initiative aiming at mainstreaming sustainable production and trade of flowers and plants. A large group of companies and organizations (producer organizations, traders, retailers and NGOs from European, African and South American countries) have expressed their support for the foundation of this initiative, planned to be launched around June of this year, at the Floriade2012. The initiative will have a number of activities among which the establishment of an equivalency tool for certification schemes, aimed at increasing efficiency and transparency for growers, wholesalers and retailers/florists. In the future FFP and MPS will use and support this equivalency tool to set the sustainability levels for the FFP label. More communications about the pre-competitive initiative will be done within the coming weeks.
After the founding of the initiative and the establishment of the cooperation with MPS on the FFP label, the marketing of the FFP label will be separated organizationally from the pre-competitive activities of the initiative and the operational activities of the FFP foundation will be stopped.
From that moment the FFP Foundation will limit its activities to the support of mainstreaming sustainability by guarding the input and values from her international multi-stakeholder network towards the initiative´s equivalency tools and through the ownership of the FFP label.
Contact person for cooperation between FFP and MPS: Sjef Langeveld, info@fairflowersfairplants.com
Source: MPS
