After fuel, gas and coffee, flower prices are now also climbing. In January 2022, flowers were already 27 percent more expensive on average than in January last year, said Michel van Schie, spokesman for the largest flower auction in the Netherlands, Royal Flora Holland, the dpa news agency. "Right now," many a customer might think. After all, Monday is Valentine's Day, along with Mother's Day and Christmas, one of the busiest days for flower sellers.
After all, according to the expectations of the trade, bottlenecks in cut flowers are not to be expected. So it shouldn't be a problem to get a bouquet of flowers for your loved one. The only question is at what price.
Supply and demand in the flower market
But why are flowers getting more expensive now? Did the florists agree in advance of Valentine's Day? But there is no room for conspiracy stories here. In fact, the rising flower prices can be explained with very simple economics. The laws of supply and demand also apply to the flower market.
The regularly increasing demand for roses, lilies and co. on Valentine's Day is met with a significantly reduced supply this year. That drives the prices. The shortage of supply, in turn, is due to the fact that energy prices have recently risen rapidly, which many consumers may have noticed directly in their own wallets.
Turned off the heat for the flowers
Flower growers in the Netherlands have been hit hard by high energy prices. After all, the flowers are largely produced in the greenhouse at this time of year. To save costs, many Dutch growers have lowered the temperature in the greenhouses or even switched off the heating altogether. "As a result, they produce fewer flowers, or they become smaller," explained the spokesman for Royal Flora Holland.
Chrysanthemums, which are said to be extremely popular on Valentine's Day, are particularly affected by the rising prices. They were 46 percent more expensive in January than in the same month last year. The flower auction also registered similar price increases for the Gerbera and Eustoma varieties, the latter also known as prairie gentian or Japanese rose.
Supply bottlenecks for roses
Buyers will probably also have to dig deeper into their pockets for the bouquet of roses, and the flower auction is also expecting a lower offer here. In this case, however, it is less the rising energy costs than the supply problems that have an impact on the price.
Most roses for the European market come from Kenya and Ethiopia and are flown to the Netherlands, where they are then auctioned. "But the pandemic has significantly reduced the capacity for air freight," said the Royal Flora Holland spokesman.
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