Born into a family of Burgundy farmers, Chantal Brossard first discovered the flower business at 18 years old… when she married Eric Brossard, a young horticulturist from the Arpajonnais area close to Paris.

"My first step in the business was to take floral art lessons, and straight away I understood that flowers were a passion. I came to Rungis to sell flowers for Brossard in 1980, and I really enjoyed myself. We started out selling snapdragons in large volumes – about two truckloads per day, which works out at 700,000 plants per year, and at the time we were the leading snapdragon producer in France. We also produced a lot of sweet pea and delphinium. In 1996, we joined three other welcoming producers with great talent and drive - Peschoux, Olivet, and Bosch – to form GIE Alliance, and we've just celebrated our tenth anniversary together! We also created POBB, another business entity enrolled in the GIE Alliance network. Francis Peschoux is president of the GIE Alliance, and production is assigned as follows: sales directors. - Peschoux produces lily-of-the-valley, hyacinth and dahlia - Olivet produces fresia and alstroemeria - Bosch covers tulips - Brossard produces snapdragon and sweet pea We also deal in Italian buttercups as well as Mona Lisa anemones, and arum, which we took over from Dauvilliers who ceased their arum growing business.

When Mr Olivet retired we also took over his flower growing activities, so the Olivet productions are still going strong. On the other hand, we've stopped producing tulips because the costs were too high. Our range boasts between 100 and 150 references which we sell to some of the most prestigious retail florists (80%) in Paris. However, business is wavering due to competition from Holland and outside markets. Furthermore, national production is suffering products from competition with products from Ecuador, Kenya, China and India who are muscling their way in. This is why we have also differentiated into Christmas trees and decorations. Rungis really is a major market, a highly attractive centre offering top-quality products at competitive prices. However, in order to maintain this competitive attractiveness, it is essential that we save and develop Ile-de-France-based flower production for the long term by building on the unbeatable market asset of unparalleled freshness. We have to sustain the market durably, both for the top quality products and the devotion of the professionals involved.