Aptly themed ‘Horticulture for Sustainable Ethiopia’, the 2025 HortiFlora—held from April at the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa, from Tuesday, April 1st to Thursday, April 3rd, 2025—proved successful. Based on the observations, the event, which sought to promote Ethiopia's horticulture industry—showcasing the country's capability in producing flowers, fruits, vegetables, and herbs—was much better than previous such horticultural trade fairs.
Organized by HPP Exhibitions in partnership with the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers Exporters Association (EHPEA), the 2025 fair, which brought together breeders, growers, buyers, suppliers, logistics companies, and members of the general public who took part in the event, saw practically everyone lauding this year’s edition. They all termed it one of the best so far and looked forward to an even enhanced fair in the next edition. In case you missed it, here’s a general view of what you missed and how it all happened.
The Entire Ethiopian Horticulture Industry in One Place
For starters, in the course of the three days of the event, this year’s HortiFlora showcased the very best and rich floral—and generally horticultural—capabilities that Ethiopia has to offer. At least 100 local companies and others from roughly 35 countries took part. The different flower and horticulture companies showcased their offerings in a setting that blended horticultural and floral beauty and innovation in a conducive setting.
From breeders like De Ruiter, Deliflor, and Dümmen Orange, as well as Florensis to growers like Abyssinia Flowers, AQ Roses, Tinaw Business S.C., Asella Flowers Farm, Braam Flowers, Hansa Flowers, Ethio Vegfru Group, Sher Ethiopia, Sunrise Flowers, Klaver Flowers, Maranque Plants, Marginpar Ethiopia, Minaye Flowers, Roshanara Roses PLC, QualiRosa, Syngenta East Africa, Ziway Roses, Ethiopia Magical Flowers (EMF), BellaFlor Cut Flowers, Linssen Roses, ZK Flower, Herburg Roses, and Zuqualla Horti, among others, the event was a full house.
Alongside these, there were industry institutions like Royal FloraHolland, MPS, and Floranow, among many others from across the floriculture and horticultural industries and value chain, showcasing what they had on offer. And they all, seemingly, had the same opinion: the industry in Ethiopia is promising, and HortiFlora 2025 was just a marker of the better things to expect.
Tinaw Business S.C. General Manager Muluken Lemma, for instance, stressed the potential of the Ethiopian flower industry and pointed out that events, like HortiFlora, that showcase Ethiopia’s floral industry are important when it comes to showcasing what the country’s flower industry truly has to offer.
Kidist Shibru, the Sales and Marketing Manager at Tinaw Business S.C:
“The show has been busy for us, which is good as it shows the growth in Ethiopia’s flower industry. While the numbers on the first day were not very high like other fairs elsewhere, the fact that it has been busy makes it all that important both for us and others participating in the event.”
Grower Klaver Flowers, with facilities in both Holland and Hawassa in Ethiopia, also noted that the event had been quite a success, as pointed out by Lydia Klaver, the CFO at the flower company. HortiFlora 2025, Lydia indicated, had been effective in bringing everyone in the Ethiopian flower industry under one roof, thus effectively connecting everyone in the industry.
Lydia Klaver:
“So far, it has been a good show. There have been varieties of flowers from different companies, all of which prospective buyers now know of. Hopefully, it grows even bigger and better in the coming edition.”
Lydia’s views were equally supported by Frezgi Gebre Hiwot, who is Klaver Flowers’ Addis Ababa Office Manager. He also expressed his optimism for the next HortiFlora edition.
Also present at the 2025 HortiFlora was the team from Ziway Roses led by Ermiyas Solomon, the Operational Manager at the Holla Roses BV-owned flower farm based in the Oromia region's Batu town near Lake Ziway. Ermiyas noted that this year, HortiFlora was bigger than it was two years ago. It had more exhibitors, newer technological innovations on showcase, and the ambiance was generally perfect. Ziway Roses, whose best-selling variety at the moment is Rose Mont Royal, grows 21 standard varieties and 34 spray rose varieties, many of which were on showcase at HortiFlora 2025.
Ermiyas Solomon:
“We look forward to the next HortiFlora and hope it will be even bigger and better. Because as the flower industry in Ethiopia, we know we have great potential, and this floral trade fair is one of the best ways through which we can showcase our industry’s potential.”
Many more, including Tewodros Zewdie, the Executive Director of EHPEA, as well as different representatives from growers like Raphael Joly of Abyssinia Flowers, Ruta Yoseph Kassa of Floral Chain Group (Asella Flowers), and Tsegaw Yabiti from Roshanara, had positive feedback for the trade fair.
Tsegaw, for instance, noted that the attendees’ visits to their stand gave them valuable insights, new opportunities, and great support to further enhance their flower company’s operations.
Tsegaw:
“The exchange of knowledge and experiences has been truly inspiring, reaffirming our dedication to delivering top-tier flowers and seedlings. We thank everyone who stopped by, shared their expertise, and expressed interest in working with us. We look forward to strengthening these connections and continuing to grow together.”
An Important Event in the Ethiopian Calendar
The Ethiopian flower industry is one that is fast growing, and its success is a manifestation of the collective influence of the industry’s different players. The horticulture sector, according to Nega Mequanint, who is the incumbent Board Chair of EHPEA, has been resilient even amid adversity in the past years, and remains among the top three forex exchange earners for the country.
Nega Mequanint:
“HortiFlora is quite important as it attracts more investment to Ethiopia and also presents a platform for creating and concluding horticultural business deals.”
Alongside HPP Exhibitions, EHPEA therefore seeks to make HortiFlora a yearly event starting from the coming year, taking into consideration the demands of exhibitors, buyers, and other partners, as the fair continues to grow in both scope and content. It is essentially becoming one of the most important Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) events in the country’s calendar.
Looking forward, one can therefore expect the next HortiFlora to be even bigger and better than this year’s edition, with more participants and exhibitors expected to attend. You can therefore start making your reservations as well as the plans to attend in advance.
