Hoping to outgrow the crisis
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 29, 2009 00:00
ADANA / MERSİN - Flower growers and shop owners who have been intensely preparing for St. Valentines Day remain hopeful that "lovers will not care much about the global economic crisis."
As Feb. 14 approaches, flower growers are keeping their turnover expectations high. But they admit they have also been hit by the economic turmoil and have had to lower their prices.
" I hope that lovers will not care much about the global economic crisis and St. Valentines Day sales will remain unaffected," said Cem Şahbaz, the general manager of Naturel Tarım Ürünleri, in the southern city of Mersin’s Tarsus district. Mersin is considered the heart of flower growing.
Florists at greenhouses located in Mersin and Adana have been hard at work. They have been getting ready to cut down their products and get them ready to be sent to big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and Diyar- bakır. A big portion of Naturel Tarım’s annual turnover is obtained during this period, said Şahbaz, but lately there has been a serious cash contraction in the market. "In order to overcome this problem, we have launched a special campaign for flower shops," he said. "Within the framework of this campaign we are selling a single rose at a 40 percent lower price compared to last year."
"We have a production capacity of 3 million. This St. Valentines Day, we will provide the market with 120,000 roses."
"Flower prices will vary from town to town and the quality of the flower," the chairman of the Chamber of Florists in Adana, Süleyman Oğuz, said. "The cost of one rose last year varied between 5 liras and 10 liras. This year the price of a single rose in a box will be 5 liras. A rose without a box will cost 3 liras," he said.
" I hope that lovers will not care much about the global economic crisis and St. Valentines Day sales will remain unaffected," said Cem Şahbaz, the general manager of Naturel Tarım Ürünleri, in the southern city of Mersin’s Tarsus district. Mersin is considered the heart of flower growing.
Florists at greenhouses located in Mersin and Adana have been hard at work. They have been getting ready to cut down their products and get them ready to be sent to big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and Diyar- bakır. A big portion of Naturel Tarım’s annual turnover is obtained during this period, said Şahbaz, but lately there has been a serious cash contraction in the market. "In order to overcome this problem, we have launched a special campaign for flower shops," he said. "Within the framework of this campaign we are selling a single rose at a 40 percent lower price compared to last year."
"We have a production capacity of 3 million. This St. Valentines Day, we will provide the market with 120,000 roses."
"Flower prices will vary from town to town and the quality of the flower," the chairman of the Chamber of Florists in Adana, Süleyman Oğuz, said. "The cost of one rose last year varied between 5 liras and 10 liras. This year the price of a single rose in a box will be 5 liras. A rose without a box will cost 3 liras," he said.