Son of a hotel manager, Jawad Hajjar (32 years old) was born in Beirut (Lebanon). He left the "Land of Cedars", his home country, at the age of eighteen to come to France where he completed a BTS (higher technician's license) in horticulture (technique and management of a horticultural company) while working in the catering industry.

"I discovered exotic flowers while on a trip to Martinique as part of my studies, and had got the idea of selling them here. Not long after, I started work as representative for a small company importing anthuriums from Mauritius. I went door-to-door through the whole of Paris on foot, in the rain, for three months with a box of flowers under one arm. I was taking orders, but the company wasn't providing the necessary back-up. So, I created my own florist supply company and set up at Rungis in October 1994 in partnership with a wholesaler who is no longer there. My next step, in September 1996, was to create Jawad Exotiques - Cedrus. In just one year, I quadrupled our sales area and turnover.I introduced and sold new products, in particular ready-prepared or semi-prepared exotic bouquets from my Ivory Coast plantation (250 Ha) - and representing only 20% of my supplies. To do this, I created a quality label "fleur de Martinique, 100% Martinique". Our rule is never to offer anything less than the widest choice of the best quality flowers, and to always be capable of amazing our customers. I have six permanent employees plus seasonal staff for busy periods.

The company is open six days a week, all year round, with a 24-hour a day customer hotline for stopgap emergency solutions, and we even deliver on Sundays where necessary. Our customers include florists and interior designers (70%), caterers, restaurateurs and hotels. Our flagship products are ready-prepared bouquets (25 references), flowers from Hawaii (proteas, garlands of exotic flowers, etc.), exotic foliage (always very popular), over 2,000 references in all, tailored to all the year's festivities. Our company owes its success to Rungis and has no intention of going anywhere else as Rungis must continue to be a showcase for novel and innovative produce. Nevertheless, we could do with more selling space and parking areas, and maybe Rungis could adapt timetables to fit in with today's economy, or even create an exchange market for flowers or screen trading.