The cut flowers market in the U.K is big business, and indeed this is the case throughout the EU. In 2008 alone, the EU imported ?2.5 billion worth of flowers. The annual cut flowers market in the U.K. is currently estimated to be worth in excess of ?2 billion annually. High street florists, online florists and supermarkets are all in competition for this market, with the supermarkets currently the major players, winning around 70% of the total U.K. market.

Many of the flowers sold in this country are grown in Dutch greenhouses, as the climate in Britain precludes us from growing anything like the number and variety of flowers needed to satisfy domestic demand. Perhaps surprisingly, most of the flowers sold in the U.K. are not grown in the Netherlands, but are in fact flown in from countries like Colombia and Kenya.

It may seem at first glance that this is a bad idea in environmental terms. Similar to the food miles associated with imported food, the air miles picked up by imported flowers from the southern hemisphere lead to a big carbon footprint for this product, right?

However, the long distance importation of flowers may be less of an environmental disaster than it first appears. Flowers grown naturally outside in a warm climate do not rely on such carbon heavy support as the gas fired green houses required to grow flowers in the harsher northern European climate. When these factors are balanced against each other, you may be surprised to learn that many of the indoor, greenhouse grown Dutch products - like vegetables and of course flowers - have a bigger carbon footprint than fresh produce flown in from Africa.

Buying flowers imported from developing countries can also bring benefits to fragile communities with essential commerce, and as such your business is helping address ethical concerns outside of climate change. Much of the production undertaken for export is essential in the developing world to ensure that local communities are able to earn a decent living ? and all the more so if the trade is Fair Trade.

Look for independent Fair Trade certification when you purchase flowers. Fair trade certification should mean that the workers involved in producing the flowers are paid a decent wage, and that the working environment is decent and as safe as possible to work in. The cost of sustainable production and a living wage is effectively established as the bottom line from which producers negotiate with exporters.

The Fair Trade flower industry in the U.K. is now worth ?33.4 million annually, making it a significant slice of the total ?1.6 billion market. Fair Trade flower exportation from the developing world is estimated to help 7 million people in around 58 developing countries worldwide.

Indeed, if you wish to select fair trade produce when buying flowers gifts online, you may find the task easier than trying to browse for fair trade flowers on the high street, as many of the big merchants like Interflora have good information on the range of fair-trade flowers available on websites which pigeonhole products in a specific category.

Maricruz Tennill has worked in the flower industry for many years and prefers using Interflora when ordering flowers gifts online.