DIMENSIONS OF QUALITY OF CUT-FLOWERS IN HORTICULTURAL SUPPLY CHAINS

Cut-flower-industry (‘Floriculture‘) is a strictly globalizing business. The transition from local growing and marketing to international production, distribution and marketing is almost done for major crops, such as cut-roses. The relatively young concepts of crop quality and its management were recently extended to the concept ‘quality in value-chains‘ [4]. During recent years supply chain management has emerged as a concept and tool to deal with the complexity of a supply chain that links the production to consumption. It is a framework that captures the crop, the growing and the logistical, economic, marketing, information and human resource elements up to the end-use [2]. The term ‘quality‘ and its multiple dimensions as well as the multiple demands and expectations of players in the chain - parties involved in from breeding, to consumption of fresh floricultural goods are briefly described. From grower to vase: Multiple demands meet single acceptance [1]. Finally the emotional & aesthetic values make consumers decide–or not.