Welcome to the 2025 Student Floristry Competition

Sydney Markets: Where History, Sustainability, and Fresh Produce Collide 

Since the landing of the first fleet, Sydney Markets has been a vital part of the Australian food industry. Today, the modern markets comprise two locations, Flemington and Haymarket, which is the location of our iconic Paddy’s Markets. 

Every day 6,000 workers and 2,000 traders work to bring fresh produce, flowers, and great community bargains to over 7 million people all over NSW and ACT. 

Sydney Markets’ environmental sustainability program is recognised as a global leader in waste recycling, water conservation and green energy production. Sydney Markets is a recent recipient of a Green Globe Business Leadership Award in recognition of outstanding integrated sustainable practices.  

 Sydney Markets’ annual Fresh Awards program champions greengrocers, florists, wholesalers, produce growers, flower growers, providores, fresh content creators and Paddy’s retailers through a rigorous mystery shopping and industry awards program. 

 Sydney Markets is one of the largest food distribution centres in the Southern Hemisphere and each year Sydney Markets trades around 2.5 million tonnes of fresh produce with a value in excess of $3 billion. 9,018 solar panels are currently installed on-site.  This equates to removing approx. 2,500 cars from our roads where we are also now running on 11% renewable energy, which is the equivalent of powering 1,300 houses. 

East Coast Wildflowers is one of Australia's leading suppliers of Australian native and South African wildflowers with an extensive range of high-quality seasonal flowers and foliages grown all year round at their own farms in the beautiful hinterland of the NSW Central Coast. In addition to the extensive field plantings, protected cropping (greenhouse crops) allows for flowering crops to be grown out of season to a very high quality.

East Coast Wildflowers also source and supply from many other leading specialist growers and wild product harvesters from across Australia. Their extensive range includes many sought after and unusual products not commonly available.

Don't hesitate to contact East Coast if you want to obtain specific products at orders@eastcoastwildflowers.com.au

The Sustainable Floristry Network is a new, independent education organisation for florists, based in Australia. We deliver CPD-accredited training on sustainability as it applies to florists across the globe. Our Flowers 2030 industry education program sets a new standard for floristry, based on sustainability principles, and has been designed to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Our Member Florist program supports florists genuinely committed to creating a more sustainable industry through training and behaviour change.

Helix Australia is the world leader in the breeding, marketing, and licensing of new and improved varieties of Waxflower and Boronia for both cut flower and landscape use. Waxflower is one of the major transition (filler) flowers used by discerning florists globally and Helix Australia’s varieties aim to enthuse both florist and consumer alike. Our superior varieties have been selected for flower size, unique colour range, extended vase life. We have developed both early and late flowering varieties to extend seasonal availability.

Wafex is a family owned business and Australia’s leading flower company, with offices in Australia, Kenya, Ecuador and the USA. We produce large volumes and many varieties of Australian native flowers at our own flower farms and support small and large growers throughout Australia that provide Wafex with a range of products and seasonal flowering times. Wafex owns leading Wholesaler Tesselaar Flowers, supplying Australian florists with offices in Melbourne, Brisbane & Perth.

Contacts:

Perth 08 9278 9800 Melbourne 03 8378 9900

sales@wafex.com

Wildflower Industry Network of NSW Inc. (WIN) aims to grow and promote the Wildflower Industry in NSW. WIN members are specialist growers of Australian native flowers and foliage, as well as selections from South African Proteaceae. WIN supports the interests of growers and others with a commercial interest in wildflowers throughout NSW by fostering exchange of commercial and technical information, promoting and initiating technical research whilst supporting collective action on industry issues.

Contact De-Arne O’Toole: farm@banksiaman.com

Flowers magazine is the essential guide for the National Australian flower and foliage industry. Both printed and e-magazine subscriptions are available, as well as a Business Directory.

Contact Allison at editor@flowersmagazine.com.au

Koch & Co. have professional florists covered with their extensive range of sundries to supplies and accessories. They know the fine details make all the difference when it comes to making the ultimate floral arrangement for weddings, events, storefronts and more. Their range includes florist supplies such as floral foam and wire, flower stands, glues and adhesives. Koch & Co. also offer a wide range of florist hardware such as flower bowls and guards, florist scissors and pots.

Delivery Australia-wide covering Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney as well as most country areas.

WhatCutFlowerisThat? The essential care and handling guide for cut flower professionals. 2nd edition. 2022. Published and printed in Australia by the authors. Download or purchase your print copy via their website.

The International Protea Association represents all links in the value chain of global commercial protea production. It offers researchers, propagators, farmers, marketers, breeders and educators an open forum of communication and friendship to promote and expand the industry for the benefit of all.

The IPA has over 100 members, representing protea farmers, marketers and researchers from Australia, Chile, China, Columbia, Ecuador, France, Holland, Israel, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, USA and Zimbabwe.

IPA recently hosted the very successful conference Protea Conference 2025 - the XX INTERNATIONAL PROTEA ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE & XV INTERNATIONAL PROTEA RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM in Temecula, California. 

Premium Greens Australia is the sales and marketing arm of the Cedar Hill Group based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. We specialise in Australian native flowers and foliage for both export and domestic markets. Our products are world renowned for freshness, quality and their special form and style for designers.

Ausflora Pacific is a family-owned business with over 40 years of experience in growing and producing Proteaceae plants. We take great pride in the quality of the stock we cultivate and dispatch to our customers. Our extensive range includes cut flowers and plants from the Proteaceae family, featuring South African natives such as Leucadendrons, Leucospermum, as well as the Australian native Waratah. All our plants are propagated and grown in our own nursery, giving us a deep, hands-on understanding of each species from start to finish. This expertise allows us to consistently deliver quality products to our clients. 

Marick Nursery, NSW

Kalympa Wildflowers, VIC

RipeMooVine, VIC

Wyndham Flower Farm, NSW