FSI HISTORY
The Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) was initiated in 2012 by 25 stakeholders from across the floriculture sector, many of whom became the founding members of FSI. United by the ambition to find more sustainable solutions for producers, the environment, and the future of the sector, they set a clear goal: to achieve 90% responsibly produced and traded flowers and plants.
In 2013, FSI was established as an independent international non-profit association under Belgian law (AISBL), supported primarily by its members and complemented by project-based funding. Over the period 2013–2025, FSI evolved through several distinct phases — from a start-up phase focused on transparency and benchmarking, through expansion and mainstreaming, towards a broader and more integrated sustainability approach. Today, FSI has grown into a globally active platform with around 100 members and partners, collaborating across the supply chain to drive measurable impact.
Building on this foundation, FSI is now entering a new phase focused on making the floriculture sector future-fit. Guided by five key impact topics, FSI aims to facilitate 100% FSI-Compliant products as a license to operate, strengthen data-driven tools, methodologies and resources to support informed decision-making and accountability, and deepen collaboration, knowledge sharing and storytelling across the sector. Together, these efforts support continuous improvement, strengthen trust, and accelerate progress toward a sustainable and resilient floriculture supply chain.
FSI VALUES
From core values to change
To move towards a mainstream sustainable floriculture sector, it is key to develop a shared vision, reverse the fragmentation of standards and thus inefficiencies, and to create a structure where current and future sustainability issues can be tackled on a sector level.
Prepare for the future by addressing sustainability issues in a pre-competitive way through the development of tools and best practices regarding identified key topics in the floriculture industry.
Involve relevant stakeholders, build coalitions and aim to create change on the ground by taking joint action on the implementation of impact projects, through coordination of the actions and the sharing of results.
Increase the demand for sustainable flowers and lower costs by providing transparency and comparability of the sustainability standards in floriculture. Working on continuous improvement of the level of sustainability in the sector using the ITC Standards Map and the FSI Basket of Standards.
Use institutions that are already established and have led to valuable cooperation with the International Trade Center ITC, Sustainable Trade Initiative IDH, GlobalGAP, Food Experts and the Consumer Goods Forum Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative, using and building on generally accepted practices. Align projects and interventions with national organisations, embassies and other relevant institutions to share information and approaches to either build on what is already there or to share experiences and way forward.
FSI BOARD
FSI TEAM
IDH TEAM
