Economic crisis affects florists
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by Betül Çal
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 07, 2009 00:00
A former heyday of the flower industry, Valentine’s Day does not offer any hope to florists this year. The sale of red roses are not expected to ease the pain of florists in financial difficulty despite the approach of this occasion, while the industry that has an export revenue of $45 million is about to come to a standstill as a result of the economic crisis
Facing hard times with the current economic crisis, the cut flower industry relies heavily on Valentine’s Day. In Turkey, annual flower sales do not exceed a certain level and flower purchases are limited to special occasions, whereas the common perception of flowers in many European countries is very different, flowers are seen more as a basic need like food than a luxury.
"Roses gain a deeper meaning on Valentine’s Day as the rose, especially red roses, embody the deepest of emotions, that of love", said Burak Aslan, owner of Aslan Çiçekçilik, a local firm in Antalya.
"Strangely enough, people feel the need to express their love on this special day, because we may not have the chance next Valentine’s Day."
As St. Valentine’s Day approaches, almost every year the general tendency in the market is for a sharp increase in the sales of roses both domestically and internationally, Aslan said. "This year the situation will be different. Our sales have dropped by almost 60 percent since the economic crisis hit world markets. There is no single florist that I know who is not facing financial difficulties. We are trying to survive in this industry by getting into more and more debt every day."
Exports on the decrease
"Until this year, we, the florists, looked forward to Valentine’s Day as sales, especially the sale of roses, skyrocketed for this special day. It is quite different this year," said Nurcan Sinanoğlu, a partner of Antalya Manolya Çiçekçilik.
"To be more specific, total export figures to countries such as America, Holland and Italy have increased substantially in past years as I guess Valentine’s Day means much more to them. The cut flower import firms were eager to pay amount that we decided upon. They just wanted us to supply the required amount of product at the right time. We were happy and they were happy.
"The current economic crisis has affected European and American markets more than our market this year. As many other industries, the cut flower industry has also been badly affected. As a result, the export figures for Valentine’s Day have already decreased in international markets. There is no need to mention the decrease in the domestic market where rose purchases are usually seen as a luxury rather than the expression of emotion," added Sinanoğlu.
"We put faith in Christmas last year, but it was in vain. Now we have almost no hope for the coming Valentine’s Day. I have even thought of laying off our workers, I cannot pay their salaries let alone the social security premiums," said Osman Korkmaz, the owner of a local flower shop in Antalya.
As to estimated rose prices on Valentine’s Day, Korkmaz said they were not planning to increase prices as they could not achieve sales targets even with their current prices. "Accordingly, a red rose will be sold for between 10 and 40 (Turkish) liras in Antalya this year. We will be very happy if people prefer to express their emotions with a red rose rather than jewelry or chocolate on this special day," he added.
Antalya leads cut flower exports
According to the data obtained from the Antalya Governorship Agriculture Provincial Directorate, cut flowers make up the largest percentage of total ornamental plant exports with 60 percent. Some 6.5 million cut flowers were exported to various countries in 1985 while the number had reached over 347 million in 2007. Total revenue from annual exports amounts to $26.8 million.
"Roses gain a deeper meaning on Valentine’s Day as the rose, especially red roses, embody the deepest of emotions, that of love", said Burak Aslan, owner of Aslan Çiçekçilik, a local firm in Antalya.
"Strangely enough, people feel the need to express their love on this special day, because we may not have the chance next Valentine’s Day."
As St. Valentine’s Day approaches, almost every year the general tendency in the market is for a sharp increase in the sales of roses both domestically and internationally, Aslan said. "This year the situation will be different. Our sales have dropped by almost 60 percent since the economic crisis hit world markets. There is no single florist that I know who is not facing financial difficulties. We are trying to survive in this industry by getting into more and more debt every day."
Exports on the decrease
"Until this year, we, the florists, looked forward to Valentine’s Day as sales, especially the sale of roses, skyrocketed for this special day. It is quite different this year," said Nurcan Sinanoğlu, a partner of Antalya Manolya Çiçekçilik.
"To be more specific, total export figures to countries such as America, Holland and Italy have increased substantially in past years as I guess Valentine’s Day means much more to them. The cut flower import firms were eager to pay amount that we decided upon. They just wanted us to supply the required amount of product at the right time. We were happy and they were happy.
"The current economic crisis has affected European and American markets more than our market this year. As many other industries, the cut flower industry has also been badly affected. As a result, the export figures for Valentine’s Day have already decreased in international markets. There is no need to mention the decrease in the domestic market where rose purchases are usually seen as a luxury rather than the expression of emotion," added Sinanoğlu.
"We put faith in Christmas last year, but it was in vain. Now we have almost no hope for the coming Valentine’s Day. I have even thought of laying off our workers, I cannot pay their salaries let alone the social security premiums," said Osman Korkmaz, the owner of a local flower shop in Antalya.
As to estimated rose prices on Valentine’s Day, Korkmaz said they were not planning to increase prices as they could not achieve sales targets even with their current prices. "Accordingly, a red rose will be sold for between 10 and 40 (Turkish) liras in Antalya this year. We will be very happy if people prefer to express their emotions with a red rose rather than jewelry or chocolate on this special day," he added.
Antalya leads cut flower exports
According to the data obtained from the Antalya Governorship Agriculture Provincial Directorate, cut flowers make up the largest percentage of total ornamental plant exports with 60 percent. Some 6.5 million cut flowers were exported to various countries in 1985 while the number had reached over 347 million in 2007. Total revenue from annual exports amounts to $26.8 million.