While in days gone by the scent of a rose was a significant factor, nowadays a lot of growers solely focus on achieving maximum production, resulting in fewer fragrant varieties.
From his range of more than thirty roses only four are scented. As rose specialists, for John Austin the flower is big business year-round, with deliveries from the Netherlands having doubled from three to six days a week in the last few years.
He has a wide selection to offer a broad spectrum of customers with stems priced from 40 pence to £2.50, for a Grand Prix measuring 100cm.
While Edwards strives to include the rarest varieties in order to stay ahead of the general market, he said there may perhaps be too many breeds to choose from.
“Now there are 20 types of white rose and 10 or 12 types of red, whereas not so many years ago there were only a couple of roses at all.”
In terms of logistics, he said Valentine’s week had overtaken Mother’s Day to become the busiest time for the company and would require a lot of extra hard work to cater for the ten-fold increase in volume turn-over.
Since Valentine’s Day falls on a Monday this year, Edwards has announced he will be joining the market wholesalers trading for the first time on Sunday, February 13.
However, the event provides some security since he can be more certain of selling his quota for that day.
Edwards refutes the annual complaints regarding the increased pricing around Valentine’s Day, insisting that providing the whole world with roses on one day must naturally incur a cost.
“The prices are dear because you can’t train a rose to grow more for just one week. It’s a question of supply and demand and it’s only really the growers that benefit, and they are entitled to.
By necessity, added service charges are increasingly coming into play, he added. “The media always complain about paying £10 for a single rose but I don’t think that is expensive, once you take delivery into account, to send a rose to tell someone you love them.”
RED NOT NECESSARY FOR ROMANCE
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to ‘say it’ in red for Valentine’s Day, said Agrexco’s flower marketing manager, Yehuda Reichman.
And the company has introduced two new varieties of lily as customer demand for the flower continues to rise.
“Predictably enough roses are the number one flower, romance still dictating that they should be long-stemmed and red in colour,” said Reichman.
“And we hope to repeat the success we had last year with Jaguar and Mercedes, two varieties that more than foot the bill.
“However, in saying that, we have good programmes in place for pink Saphir and the yellow Golden Gate showing that not everyone shares the belief that red is the only colour to express undying love and devotion,” he said.
Consumer preferences are changing and Agrexco is adapting accordingly.
“Alongside our regular lines of Stargazer and Cassandra, we are offering a new variety of lily longhiflorum called White Heaven as well as a new pink oriental lily, Miro Star,” said Reichman.
Blue and white Lisianthus is consistently popular and fillers in general are close to becoming as important as the blooms themselves, he added. “They are a statement on their own and can make or break a floral arrangement.”
Recognising the persistent demand for diversity, Agrexco is continually expanding its varietal range and more exotic flowers, such as safari sunset, myrtle, solidago, aurelia and aspisidstra now accompany the mainstream selection.
The company is continually striving to achieve higher standards of quality and shelf-life and is pleased to report of recent improvements in the quality of its wax flower.
Reichman is expecting a surge in business over the coming weeks. “As everyone in the flower industry knows, Valentine’s Day signifies the start of the busiest season in the florist’s diary,” he said.
“In terms of sales, it’s a close runner-up to Mothers Day, making it the second most important date for florists diary, and with Easter following shortly after, it’s all go.”
The company’s continual success would not be possible without the dedication of its Israeli growers, said Reichman.
“We are happy to say that more than 100 growers have committed themselves to EurepGAP with 50 per cent currently having received accreditation.
“An increasing number of growers are also directly linked to the UK branch growing specific products for us.
“This allows us to carry out customer requests and, together with our strict quality control, contributes towards supplying the perfect end product.”
A LITTLE HELP FROM THE MAN
When it comes to quality and shelf life, his home-grown roses are top notch, claimed Bernard Elliott, director of Miles Morris flowers.
“I’m very lucky because I still have two or three growers on the Isle of Man so I can get as big a supply of red roses as I want. The Dutch Grand Prix are premium price roses but I get about 30 per cent of my volume from the Isle of Man.”
While the Isle of Man’s Trixx variety may not be everyone’s first choice for Valentine’s Day, they are still in demand from Elliott’s loyal customers.
He said: “They are a different variety grown for a niche market and the supermarkets don’t have them. They are very good roses, grown naturally in hydroponics. They get maximum light in Douglas, where they’re grown, and exposure to the Gulf Stream so they use less energy and grow well. They are almost organically grown and they last. I’ve known the growers for 30 years and they always send them to me.”
Elliott said he would be taking the opportunity to open on the Sunday before Valentine’s Day, and is expecting to sell about 10,000 roses for the big event, 10 times his normal weekly turn over.
TAKING A GAMBLE ON LOVE
Unlike other flower wholesalers W H Moss & Sons chooses not to pre-order roses for Valentine’s Day, preferring to buy day to day, said director Peter Moss.
Rather than attempting to second guess the market by ordering several weeks in advance, Moss said he has tended to leave it until the last few days before February 14, which suits his customers.
“Some companies will get information through from their importers and distributors that the price of red roses for Valentine’s week is going to be, say, 75p for a long red rose if they order a certain quantity by, January 25, for example, for delivery on February 14,” he said.
“We don’t do that because we take the view that we can get red roses in every day so we can more than cover the orders that we get.
“In our experience, we usually find there are more red roses than the actual demand, and so the price in the few days before Valentine’s can slip.
“It’s a little bit more of a gamble in the sense that if we judge it wrong we might end up having to pay more money for our roses, but in the years we’ve been doing it hasn’t worked out that way.”
Moss said that a customer could order 500 roses on February 13 and he could guarantee supplies for the following day.
While he would easily sell up to five times as many red roses for Valentine’s Day than an average week, he had noticed a gradual change in customer preferences.
“It used to be almost exclusively roses but in the last couple of years there has been a noticeable shift, the demand is still mostly for shades of reds but with some other flowers such as Lilies as well.
“Where as in the past people would have gone for a dozen red roses, they are now opting for a nice hand-tied bouquet with a red theme to it.
“So it’s moving away from just roses, which is good, because people will get better value.”
Finding Valentine’s Day a high-pressured affair, Moss said Mother’s Day was a more profitable occasion both in terms of revenue and enjoyment.
“Mother’s Day is our top day of the year. The process is not the same as Valentine’s Day because it’s not concentrated on any one flower so it’s just a question of getting the right mixture, the right quality and the right prices across the board.”
While Christmas used to be the highlight of the year, in terms of volume February to April is now the busiest time for W H Moss, and the company is looking forward to the increased activity after a naturally quiet start to the year.
DUTCH OFFER THE BEST
Dutch roses are still the cream of the crop according to C&C director, Mick Kilgallon.
“When you compare the heads of the roses there’s a big, big difference between the imports,” he said.
“The African roses are for people who will sell them as a bunch, but the Dutch will be used for bouquets or sold as single stems because they are a superior quality.”
The vast amount of Kilgallon’s supply of roses comes from the Netherlands although he does import from parts of Africa as well.
However, orders from the Netherlands are done by phone which does not allow as good an indication of quality as dealing directly with the grower - an opportunity granted with UK produce like daffodils.
Despite offering a whole range of spring flowers, his Valentine’s Day customers are only ever interested in red roses, which imposes great limitations on what he can sell, said Kilgallon.
“Its long-stem Grand Prix or Passion roses that sell the most or sometimes people will go for black Baccaras, a blood-red maroon coloured rose. But that’s only the people looking for something different.”
The Grand Prix is the premium product with some varieties producing heads and stems of exceptional sizes for those customers willing to meet the extra cost, he said.
The volume of roses C&C sells can increase dramatically among regular customers just for the one day. Normal orders of around 40 stems may suddenly rise to 400 to 500 stems.
However, Kilgallon is all too aware of the downside to every boom period. With Mother’s Day arriving in the same month this year and Easter following swiftly in March, he was concerned about customers maintaining interest in flowers for all three occasions.
“People go mad for Valentine’s Day and then there just isn’t enough time for them to forget the extortionate prices they’ve paid before the next date,” he said.
“Mother’s Day is much better for me because that’s just flowers in general, the whole lot. I sell more pink stuff usually but all the spring range, including daffodils, and tulips will go in vast amounts.”
The company is continually adapting to an ever-changing market.
“It used to be that I could sell pallet loads of spray carnations. You get 42 buckets on a pallet and we would have about four or five pallets a week. Now I’d struggle to sell half a pallet,” he explained.
“Things like Hypericum are now worth quite a bit more than they were 10 years ago. People want something different, away from the bread and butter stuff like daffs, carnations and tulips.”
FORGET THE ROSES MEN
Roses are not what most women want, according to research by the Flowers & Plants Association (F&PA).
Following a study revealing 54 per cent of men do not know their partner’s favourite flower, the F&PA has launched a plan to guide men through the annual floral debacle.
With a promotion aimed at readers of men’s magazines, such as Arena and GQ, and in national newspapers, the association hopes to create a few smiles and save men some pennies for Valentine’s Day, while lowering the excessive global demand for roses.
Results from women showed that red is not a popular choice, while lilies, freesias, sweet peas and gerberas would be gratefully received.
The F&PA advise men to break away from tradition by opting for a flower or colour scheme their partners will appreciate, with many seasonal varieties to choose from.
“Perfect for their seasonality are tulips which also come in a wide variety of colours and shapes,” said F&PA communications manager Kate Kenyon.
“Look out for unusual parrot tulips with their frilly edged petals that definitely say ‘romance’. A hand-tied bouquet of tulips can look stunning, stylish and expensive.”
Blocks of colour are more appealing than a mixture, pastel colours are particularly feminine, and individuality is prized above tradition, she added.
This advice is particularly poignant following the F&PA’s indications that men do not visualise colour as sharply as women. As well as promoting lesser-known varieties, the association also hopes to dispel the male embarrassment factor associated with carrying flowers.
Contrary to popular opinion, women find such men caring, sensitive and generous, said Kenyon. The association is hoping its initiative will help draw media attention away from the annual fixation upon the skyrocketing prices for roses.
No comments yet