The Story

A cooperative with more than 40 years of history always close to farmers

Since 1980 always protagonists of Ligurian floriculture

Florcoop's history is more than 40 years old; the company was founded as a consortium of cooperatives to give more bargaining power to agricultural producers at the marketing stage. From the first steps taken within the Sanremo flower market, today the cooperative has become one of the most important companies in Italy in the production and sale of cut flowers and potted plants. In 2020, it incorporated the Riviera dei Fiori and Dol.Va.Pre. farmers' cooperatives, becoming a point of reference for all agricultural sectors.

The beginnings of the Consortium

In its early years, the consortium took advantage of the organization and know-how of one of the founding cooperatives, New Floriculture, to consolidate its action in the local market. By the early '90s, export activity was almost non-existent and sales to the local market were about 90% of total, with the remaining being shipped to italian customers. Thus, the consortium's activities basically aimed at supplying Sanremo with merchants and exporters who then in turn distributed the product throughout the country and abroad.

They were magical years for Sanremo floriculture, this market was the most important not only in Italy but among the most important in Europe especially for some products such as mazzeria di pien'aria and certain green and flowering fronds.
Towards the mid-1990s, Florcoop began an export phase, foreseeing future difficulties on the domestic market, which was increasingly orienting its consumption towards products from the Dutch market.

Opening of branches

In 2000 Florcoop undertook a new commercial strategy: the opening of the first stores Cuneo and Brescia which were followed by Alba in 2002, Milan and Savona in 2003, Asti in 2006, Moncalieri in 2007 and Reggio Emilia in 2009, pursuing the goal of selling directly to florists or garden centers.

Another strategy to broaden its business offerings has been to target the market for potted plants. Commercialization began in 2007, and in 2010 the incorporation of the Gamma cooperative provided important insights into this area.

Year 2010: the Joint Cooperative Group is born.

On Feb. 2, 2010, the six companies Florcoop Sanremo sca, Nuova Floricoltura sca, Cooperativa Floricoltori Riviera dei Fiori sca, Floricoltori Vallefiorita sca, Pietrafleur sca and Riviera Agricoltura srl formed the Joint Cooperative Group "Florcoop." The goal is to create economies of scale through centralized management of administrative, commercial, and logistics departments.

In the same year, the new headquarters was acquired in Taggia, a facility totaling 4,000 square meters that still represents the star center in which a good portion of the members' goods are brought in, processed and transformed for marketing in Italy and abroad.

Mergers: Flower Riviera Farmers and Dol.Va.Pre

In 2014, the merger by incorporation of Nuova Floricoltura took place, the group's cooperative with the largest number of members and the most organizationally structured.

In 2019, the Riviera dei Fiori and Dol.Va.Pre farmers' cooperatives were incorporated; following this operation, Florcoop Sanremo expanded its activities to include agricultural and agri-food products (wine and Taggiasca olives).

Today, Florcoop represents a reality of great economic and social importance, with over 1,500 members, 130 employees, 18 hectares of directly cultivated land, and 15,000 square meters of space dedicated to logistics.