Regionality, sustainability and quality are more important in our consumer behavior than ever before. We buy organic food and eggs from local farmers. But what about the flowers that we use to decorate our homes? We definitely still have a lot of work to do here before the awareness of consumers is just as sharpened as it is for meat, milk and Co. We at the flower culture are working on making the topic of regionality a priority and will show you an insight into the Kuczera nursery in Vienna.
Kuczera – family business with message & sustainability
The Kuczera nursery has been around for 100 years, but the owner has only focused on growing flowers since 1971. With the handover of the family business to daughter Karin in 2005, it should stay that way, with a very important focus:
Back to regionality
Over the year, depending on the season, around 30 different crops are grown. Karin pays particular attention to planting flowers that cost little energy in order to protect the environment. In addition to many domestic flowers, there are also exotic species such as calla or eucalyptus, which do not need a lot of energy to grow. With the outbreak of the corona pandemic, there was also a change in the Austrian population: people are buying more consciously again, sometimes directly from nurseries.
Quality over quantity in floriculture
Although the demand for domestic flowers is very high, a great deal is unfortunately still bought abroad by retailers. In order to counteract this trend, Austrian nurseries rely on quality instead of quantity. This means that cultures last a little longer on average than abroad, but they are characterized by a significantly longer lifespan. Many foreign companies use high temperatures for their flowers to go on sale quickly. This method is of course at the expense of the plant. Many Austrian nurseries do not want to play this game.
We at blumenkultur have been buying an average of two to three times a week directly from local producers for years and are happy about the external and internal quality of the flowers.
Do you also make sure to buy regionally?
