Welsh councils are getting supplies of daffodils from England, Welsh Conservatives revealed today.
Information obtained by Shadow Environment Minister Darren Millar shows local authorities are using suppliers on the other side of the border, and also in Holland.
Councils including Gwynedd and Cardiff say they use suppliers outside Wales for bulbs to grow the country’s national symbol.
Clwyd West AM Darren Millar said the news raises a serious point about how local authorities procure goods and services.
Welsh Conservatives have called on councils across Wales to promote Welsh produce wherever possible.
Such a move would support local businesses, have environmental benefits, and also cut transport costs.
Darren Millar AM said:
“I am extremely surprised – and disappointed – to see that many Welsh councils prefer to source their daffodils from outside Wales.
“I am sure it will also disappoint many patriotic Welsh men and women to know that every time they look at a daffodil on Welsh council property it may well have come from England.
“There are many excellent suppliers in Wales who I am confident can compete on grounds of price and quality with their English or Dutch counterparts.
“There is also an important point to be made here about councils sourcing food, goods and other services as locally as possible.
“The fact that many Welsh councils are not willing to buy Welsh daffodils raises concerns about where they procure many other goods and services.
“I appreciate local authorities are obliged to tender for products and services, and that they must deliver value for council taxpayers’ money.
“That said, I fail to understand why they think their actions are right in this particular case.”
Richard Arnold of the Really Welsh Company said:
“For years the horticultural industry has been very much ‘priced based’, bringing in material from Europe on cost classifications alone.
“This is ironic as the prices we have recently discussed with certain authorities in Wales apparently compare very favourably with the Dutch imports or Cornish supplies.
“We also think our Welsh grown daffodils will offer superior cropping, as they are grown in virgin Welsh ground and not subject to intense rotations employed in Holland and parts of Cornwall and Lincolnshire
“We hope that the close proximity of our farms to potential customers across Wales will reduce transportation costs substantially, and will also allow Welsh-based buyers to inspect crops throughout the harvest process particularly at lifting and packing stages, and again prior to delivery if required.”