Ornamental plant and cut flower companies are suffering significant economic impacts as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, especially linked to the closure of many distribution channels on which they depend.

The French Ministry of Agriculture and Food gathered on November 17, for an exchange meeting, all the producers of the ornamental sector: the interprofessional Val'hor, the National Federation of Ornamental Producers and Viveros (FNPHP), the ornamental plants section of the French Federation of Fruit, Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Cooperation (Felcoop), the French Union of Seeds (UFS) and the Rural Coordination.

This meeting allowed, in particular, to collectively validate the terms of the support measure, endowed with a budget of 25 million euros, which will aim to compensate for the loss of turnover of producers suffered during the period of confinement from March 15 to 15 th of May. This agreement allows immediate notification of this aid mechanism to the European Commission with a view to its next implementation.

The ministry also highly welcomes the intention expressed by the ornamental plant cooperatives to present a dossier within the framework of the call for projects "Structuring sectors" that will be launched at the end of the year as part of the "France Relance" plan. In particular, the digitization of the sector could be supported to improve and facilitate, in the medium term, the commercialization of plants and flowers.

The ministry and the sector finally agreed to continue regular exchanges to monitor the situation. The ministry remains fully mobilized to support the sector and ensure its sustainability.

For Mikaël Mercier, president of the Val’hor interprofessional, “The adoption of the 25 million aid plan is good news. This help was eagerly awaited by the producers, whose losses suffered during the first containment were substantial. This should allow assistance to producers in difficulty. The ornamental plant industry suffered greatly last spring and still today. He wants to be able to project himself serenely, with the prospect of spring on the horizon. "

For Julien Denormandie, “the ornamental plants sector is fundamental in France and is suffering the full impact of the economic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis. I wanted to assure them of our full support, in particular through the forthcoming implementation of the € 25 million aid package, beyond the cross-cutting measures to support the economy to which companies in the sector are eligible. You can also count on the France Relance plan to support you. Obviously, we collectively remain attentive to the economic consequences induced by the Covid-19 crisis, for this sector as for all sectors. They can count on us".