Plants recognized as an "essential product
- Strategy & commitment
- Monitoring & analysis
- PR & influence
- Content production
- Public affairs & advocacy
- Executive coaching
Who is it?
VALHOR is the French trade association for horticulture, floristry and landscaping. It brings together 52,000 specialized companies, with sales of over 15 billion euros and 170,000 jobs. VALHOR brings together 10 professional organizations representing the production, marketing and landscape sectors.
Which cause?
Plants, an essential product. The Covid health crisis and the first containment measures led professionals to throw away nearly 60 million flowers. They threatened the survival of many horticulturists and florists. It was therefore essential that distribution should no longer be hampered by restrictions on opening to the public. To achieve this, the government had to recognize plants as an “essential product”, or risk seeing this French industry of excellence sacrificed. Flowers, plants and trees are alive, perishable, non-transformable, non-storable and without any other commercial alternative. The cause was clear.
What strategy?
We deployed an integrated strategy of national and regional influence, drawing on a range of expertise to achieve a public affairs and regulatory objective: the modification of the decree authorizing the opening of shops. Methodically carried out over 7 months, the action plan combined the creation of a coalition of 70 members of parliament, advocacy and dialogue at the highest level of the executive, a national and regional media relations campaign, the publication of a manifesto in major daily newspapers and surveys, the production of content for social networks, and the mobilization of VALHOR members.
What results?
On the strength of this system, VALHOR was able to attract public opinion, political decision-makers and finally the government to its cause: plants were recognized as an “essential product”, and the decree of March 19, 2021 authorized the opening of “shops selling plants, flowers, seeds, fertilizers, seedlings of fruit or vegetable species”.
