The Azores or officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores, is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atlantic Ocean. In 1990, FRUTERCOOP emerged from an existing association, FRUTER and is an Association of Producers of Fruit, Horticultural and Floricultural Products of Terceira Island.
Due to the socio-economic activity initiated by the association, it was necessary to establish the FRUTERCOOP cooperative in 1992, and work commenced in 1993. The cooperative is comprised of four sectors: the banana sector; the horticultural sector; the beekeeping sector and the floricultural sector, with 125 members.
Floriculture
The first plants introduced in the Azores date back to the mid-nineteenth century, but it was only later that the first fields for experimental and collection purposes appeared on some islands of the archipelago. On Terceira Island, the first commercial protea fields were planted in 1997, through FRUTER and a small group of producers. Initially with small experimental plots, producers increased their production areas with the most promising varieties for the export market. FRUTER currently has 28 producers in the Floriculture sector, and 26 of these have protea plants in full production, totalling 48 ha.
The main varieties in the Azores belong to the genus Leucospermum, followed by the genus Protea, Leucadendron and Telopea. This diversity of varieties allows for an extended production period that begins in late summer/early autumn with some varieties of the genus Protea (‘Pink Ice’, ‘Susara’, ‘Grandicolor’, ‘Moonshine’, ‘Niobe’, ‘Madiba’, ‘Brenda’, P. cynaroides). Production peaks in January to March, essentially with flowers of the genus Leucospermum and Leucadendron (‘Succession’, ‘Tango’, ‘High Gold’ ‘Soleil’, and ‘Gold Strike’. The season ends in spring with flowers of the genus Protea, Leucospermum and Telopea (P. cynaroides, Waratah, and ‘High Gold’).
Protea plantations are spread across all quadrants of Terceira Island, but with greater concentration in the Southwest, South and Southeast zones. In the 2022-23 season 1.7 million cut flower stems were sold.
For more information visit: https://fruter.pt/frutercoop/setor-floricola