Whether you buy a rose from a boutique in Barcelona, a store in Manchester or a florist in Copenhagen, it's probably Italian. Puglian, to be precise.
In the Foggia region, where unemployment stands at 15%, Ciccolella is thriving. It is one of just four southern businesses in the Italian stock exchange out of 300, a family business started in the 1960s by farmers Paolo and Mariantonia Ciccolella. After rapid expansion of district heated greenhouses at Candela from 2004, Ciccolella bought three Dutch rivals specialising in logistics and trading.
Now the group has an office in the Netherlands by the entrance to the most important market in the sector – the "Wall Street of flowers". Each year, it produces nearly 400m flowers, sells 7m anthuriums and is the leading European producer of roses.
Candela is now the biggest flower cultivation site in Europe. More than 40% of the produce goes through Europe. Open borders and free movement of goods and services mean produce can be trucked competitively to Amsterdam.
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