Kenya’s flower industry is booming, but its biggest challenge is no longer growing the flowers—it’s finding space on planes to ship them to market. A severe shortage of air cargo capacity is leaving growers with millions of fresh flowers and no way to transport them, leading to waste, rising costs, and supply chain instability.

“At one point in November, we were dumping roughly 20 percent of our production on the compost heap,” said Willum Van den Hoogen, Managing Director of Florius International FZCO, during the World Cargo Summit 2025 in Ostend. 

“The production of flowers in Western Europe is declining. This is something going year on year on year,” said Willum Van den Hoogen.

“And also, it’s a success story—the co-production of flowers in Kenya, in particular, is growing. It’s great. New jobs. People are building greenhouses. It’s extremely successful.”

But success in production is only half the story—transporting flowers efficiently and at scale remains a major challenge.

“I know that there are a lot of people building new flower farms in Kenya,” Van den Hoogen added. 

“So I know that there is demand going to come more out of Kenya into Europe. And simply, the fact is, doing it in the way we are doing it today, with aircraft… I have sincere doubts.”

Kenya has built a strong reputation as one of the world’s leading flower exporters, with Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as a key hub. However, with new farms boosting output, industry leaders are concerned about whether air cargo capacity will be able to support rising demand.

Van den Hoogen’s doubts about the current system stem from the fact that flower exports still rely heavily on airfreight, a sector that has faced capacity issues, rising costs, and competition from other cargo types like e-commerce.

This sentiment was echoed by Jeroen van der Hulst, Owner & Founder of Flowerwatch, who pointed out the challenges in cold chain logistics, particularly once flowers arrive in Europe.

“Kenya is up to date. Ethiopia is quite good, facility-wise. And here in Europe, we’re lagging behind,” Van der Hulst stated. 

“I think that is where there’s an enormous opportunity for the first movers to upgrade their cold room facilities.”

This highlights a critical weakness in the supply chain—while Kenya is keeping up with global demand, the infrastructure in destination markets like Europe needs investment and modernisation to maintain efficiency and freshness.

The issue isn’t just about having enough flights—it’s also about ensuring flowers maintain their quality from farm to final destination. A well-maintained cold chain is critical, but as Van der Hulst pointed out, some European handling facilities have fallen behind.

“There is an enormous opportunity coming for the first movers to upgrade their cold room facilities,” he noted. “If you want to keep up with the increasing volumes of flowers coming from Kenya, then infrastructure needs to evolve.”

Meanwhile, Eline van den Berg, Supply Chain Expert at Royal Flora Holland, stressed the importance of collaborating across the supply chain to ensure a seamless logistics process from farm to consumer.

While air cargo remains the dominant mode for flower exports, some in the industry are looking at alternative transport methods, including sea freight. This option was once considered impossible for fresh flowers. However, new temperature-controlled reefer containers have made it a viable alternative, especially for longer-lasting flowers.

“Sea freight has been on the agenda for twenty years, but for the first time ever, we are in an interesting price gap between airfreight and sea freight,” said Van der Hulst.

Kenya’s first major test of ocean freight for flowers has already begun. In 2023, the country shipped nearly 200 reefer containers of flowers by sea—accounting for 5 to 8 percent of total exports. However, sea freight isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. While some flowers can withstand a 20-day transit, others require faster delivery.

“Sea freight will find its rightful place beside airfreight. It will not replace it, but we will see bigger peaks and troughs—high demand for sea freight around Christmas and Valentine’s Day, but less in other months,” said Van der Hulst.