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Open a Company for Selling Flowers in Switzerland
Updated on Tuesday 09th July 2019 Rate this article
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Switzerland is one of the most representative markets for selling flowers, as the Swiss citizens are important consumers of fresh, cut flowers. Businessmen who are considering opening a company in Switzerland in the floriculture industry should know that the Swiss market is the most developed at a European level, as the Swiss consumers purchase more flowers than any other European nation. The average money spent per each Swiss consumer is of $136; in Switzerland, the top sales for florist businesses are recorded on Valentine’s Day. Companies selling flowers in Switzerland generally import products into the country, as the local flower production is relatively small in size; our team of Swiss company formation agents can offer legal advice on the regulations that must be respected for the import of flowers into this country; investors can also receive step-to-step advice on how to register a local business.
What are the rules for importing flowers into Switzerland?
As we mentioned earlier, local businesses generally have to enter import operations, as the local floriculture market is not very well developed, due to a set of factors; those growing flowers have to ensure a set of conditions for the proper development of the plants, and this can increase their production costs. As such, local companies prefer to import flowers from other markets, as the costs are much lower. Florists should know the following:
- • it is prohibited to import into Switzerland plants such as the miniature medlar or the Photinia, regardless of their country of origin;
- • certain types of plants can’t be imported into Switzerland if they originate from countries outside the European Union, Norway and Iceland;
- • Swiss entities are not allowed to import plants such as hawthorns or firethorns from outside the above mentioned regions;
- • specific types of plants need special authorization for the import into Switzerland and they must have certain types of certificates if traded here;
- • this can be the case of orchids or cactus plants, but also in the case of plants that are used for medicinal purposes.
What should one know on the Swiss flower market?
Opening a company in Switzerland in a field of activity that is rather small compared to other types of operations can be a challenging endeavor and this is why it is best to find out all the necessary details regarding the characteristics of the sector, in order to make a better estimate on the manner in which the company can develop here.
Besides calculating the initial costs for starting a Swiss company, the costs associated with renting an office space, which can be detailed by our team of consultants in company formation in Switzerland, investors should also be aware of the market size, the main competitors and main importers. The Swiss floriculture market has the following characteristics:
- • the industry is represented by the Zurich Flower Exchange, which is comprised of approximately 200 entities;
- • only 30% of the flowers sold in Switzerland are grown on the local market;
- • the rest of 70% of the flowers sold here are from imports, the most important partner being the Netherlands;
- • the Netherlands accounts for 40% of the Swiss imported flowers;
- • other relevant import partners are: South America (14%), Italy (11%) and Africa (5%).
Those who want to start a business selling flowers in Switzerland should know that the main types of flowers that are preferred by the Swiss consumers are the following: lily, chrysanthemum and the rose; the latter is the most traded cut flower on the European market.
From the total imports of flowers in Switzerland, only 10% of them are labelled as fair trade products; however, the local associations for the promotion of floriculture businesses have created in 2001 a quality label named “Floriance”, which designates flowers that were grown by local producers.
The Swiss imports related to the floriculture sector take into consideration plants such as: ornamental flowers, nursery flowers, pot plants or perennial plants. In terms of exports, Switzerland is characterized by the export of cut foliage and other flower supplies to other European countries (the average yearly export accounts for more than 20,000 tons of foliage).
Investors are invited to address to our team of consultants in company registration in Switzerland, who can provide an extensive presentation on how to invest in a flower business in one of the Swiss cantons; our representatives can assist with information regarding the taxation obligations available for local businesses and can also represent investors in registering with the local institutions.
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Being a member of BridgeWest legal network, I had the pleasure to work with colleagues at CompanyFormationSwitzerland.com. They handled successfully numerous company formation cases for my clients interested in starting businesses in Switzerland.
Mihai Cuc, Partner of MHC Law Firm