Israel’s Flower Growers Association announced last week that 30 million flowers that were supposed to reach the European market in time for Christmas remained in Israel due to a shortage of workers to harvest the plants.
In a press release the Association noted that exports to the European 2012 Christmas market was down 10%.
The failure to transfer all the expected flower supplies to Europe is causing Israel to continue to lose its place in the European market – a sector that the country once dominated, the association lamented.
According to the Flower Growers Association, Israel was a leading flower exporter to Europe and her growers gained reputation and demand.
"Today, after years of government abuse and chronic shortages of workers, we lost our debut for Kenya. Ethiopia is on the way to overtake us and other countries such as Uganda, Ecuador and Colombia penetrate the market in March - while we spend our time lobbying government offices. Unfortunately, we are now considered less reliable clients from Africa to Europe".
