Sustainable Wild Harvest Products
Funder
IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative
Funding programme: Netherlands: Fresh and Ingredients Program
Total value of project
€89,427
Value to Coventry University
€36,300
Project team
Dr David Bek (PI), Dr Jill Timms, Dr Jennifer Ferreira
Collaborators
Coventry University (lead researchers), Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI), Coloriginz, Westland Bloemen Export, Adomex and Greenflor
Duration of project
01/07/2020 - 30/06/2021
Project overview
Wild harvested flora products are a significant component of the overall cut‐flower industry, with the market size for wild harvest products being estimated at €107.831 million. However, much wild harvesting is unregulated and poses sustainability risks. In turn this creates reputational risks for retailers.
The market for foliage is changing and retailers increasingly want transparency concerning social and environmental impacts within supply chains. There is currently no assurance standard for wild harvested product, therefore these products lie out of the scope of the FSI. This project is a response to the need to identify solutions to meet this assurance gap.
Project objectives
The objectives of the first phase of the project are:
(i) to map the scale and structure of the wild-harvesting sector globally;
(ii) to identify the sustainability risks that exist for different products;
(iii) to explore the different assurance options available;
(iv) to identify a roadmap for implementing an appropriate assurance system that is acceptable to upstream and downstream stakeholders.
