Paris 06 August 2026 – In a significant milestone for sustainable floriculture, the Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) has officially granted recognition to the international floral standard, Florverde Standard for Sustainable Production of Flowers and Ornamental Plants under the SSCI Environmental Benchmark for primary production. 

In addition to being recognised under the Social Benchmark in 2024, this recognition verifies that the Florverde® Sustainable Flowers (FSF) standard addresses essential environmental impacts across the horticultural supply chain. FSF currently certifies over 220 farms covering more than 10,900 hectares in Colombia and Ecuador, thus ensuring that these benchmark standards are applied at scale. 

During the SSCI benchmarking process, FSF carried out several actions to align its standard with the SSCI benchmark, including: 

• Proactive risk management: FSF structured its environmental incident reporting system, helping buyers identify, track, and manage potential supply chain disruptions early.
• Verified batch traceability: Enhanced audit requirements track products from harvest to shipment, ensuring certified flower volumes remain distinct throughout the supply chain.
• Transparent ESG metrics: The Florverde Indicator System provides buyers with direct access to verified supplier data on water, energy, carbon, and pesticide use to simplify Scope 3 reporting. 

Ximena Franco, Director, Florverde® Sustainable Flowers said, “For more than 30 years, Florverde Sustainable Flowers has driven the transformation of the floriculture industry by embedding measurable environmental stewardship, responsible agricultural practices, and social responsibility into a robust certification system. Becoming the first certification scheme worldwide to achieve SSCI Environmental Benchmark recognition from The Consumer Goods Forum reinforces the credibility, rigor, and international alignment of our standard, providing growers, buyers, and supply chains with trusted assurance of responsible production practices. This milestone reflects the collective commitment of the floriculture industry to continuous improvement and strengthens our contribution to a more resilient, transparent, and sustainable global flower supply chain.”

Didier Bergeret, Director of Sustainability at The Consumer Goods Forum said, “Becoming the first programme to achieve SSCI’s new environmental recognition is a major milestone for Florverde. It seamlessly builds on FSF’s existing social benchmark to ensure flowers are grown under standards that protect ecosystems, workers, and communities alike. This proves that FSF is looking at sustainability from both a social and environmental lens.” 

This recognition means that companies can source from FSF-certified farms with the understanding that the standard meets the requirements of the SSCI Environmental and Social Criteria.

The SSCI benchmarks social and environmental sustainability schemes against a robust global baseline—driving market transparency and giving buyers the clarity they need to build effective due diligence processes for sourcing.  

To date, SSCI has recognised 13 auditing, monitoring and certification programmes, with three more programmes currently undergoing the benchmarking process. 

Discover how the SSCI can streamline your sustainable sourcing practices by visiting  www.tcgfssci.com.