Colombia’s flower-export sector has received national recognition for a logistics coordination model designed to keep highly perishable products moving during the industry’s most demanding shipping periods.
Asocolflores said Plan Pétalo received the 2026 National Export Award in the Export Cooperation category from Analdex and ProColombia. The award was presented Sept. 3 during the 38th National Congress of Exporters in Cartagena.
The recognition puts a spotlight on an operational challenge familiar to importers, wholesalers and mass-market floral buyers: moving enormous volumes of flowers through farms, airports, ports, cargo terminals and government inspections without sacrificing freshness or delivery reliability.
Two decades of coordinated logistics
Plan Pétalo has operated since 2006 as an industrywide coordination mechanism. It brings producers together with government authorities, airports, ports and logistics operators to identify bottlenecks and organize responses to problems that could interrupt exports.
That coordination becomes especially important around Valentine’s Day and other peak floral holidays. Asocolflores said approximately 70,000 metric tons of flowers move during major export peaks, creating intense pressure across harvesting, packing, cold-chain handling, inspections, cargo capacity and final delivery.
Flowers cannot wait indefinitely for an available flight or inspection window. Every delay can shorten vase life, reduce saleable inventory and disrupt retail programs that were planned months in advance. A problem at any point in the chain can quickly reach importers, distribution centers and store-level floral departments.
Why the model matters to buyers
The award category recognizes initiatives that strengthen exports by connecting organizations and building shared capabilities. According to Asocolflores, Plan Pétalo is intended to anticipate risks and coordinate solutions rather than simply react after shipments have already been disrupted.
For North American buyers, the model demonstrates how origin-level collaboration supports consistency during high-volume programs. Reliable execution depends on more than farm production. It also requires synchronized trucking, airport and cargo operations, phytosanitary processes, security, customs documentation and communication with downstream partners.
The program now helps support the movement of Colombian flowers to more than 100 international markets. Colombia remains one of the most important supply origins for the U.S. floral industry, particularly for roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, alstroemeria and mixed bouquet ingredients.
A replicable approach to resilience
Asocolflores described the award as validation that the Plan Pétalo model can be replicated. Its central lesson is that export competitiveness is a collective function: farms can grow excellent flowers, but commercial success ultimately depends on the entire chain delivering them on time and in market-ready condition.
As buyers place increasing emphasis on supply assurance, transparency and contingency planning, coordinated origin programs may become an increasingly important part of vendor evaluation. The strongest suppliers will be those that can explain not only how flowers are produced, but how risks are managed between harvest and the retail display.
Source: Asocolflores
The SuperFloral Team brings you news, trends and practical ideas for supermarket and mass-market floral professionals. Our editors gather and curate the stories that matter most to floral teams in grocery and retail, from industry news and events to merchandising inspiration and business advice. Have a story idea or news tip? Write to us at editorial@superfloral.com.
