Advertise On EU-Digest

Annual Advertising Rates

5/28/09

Cut Flower Market nosedives worldwide: Economy, climate batter the cut flowers market

EU-Digest

Cut Flower Market nosedives worldwide: Economy, climate batter the cut flowers market

Demand for flowers dipped by about 25 percent this year as recession-hit consumers in traditional European and US markets tightened spending on luxuries. "What we see now is that people are conscious of their spending, they think twice before they buy a bunch of flowers, a bottle of wine, or a new car," says a flower distributer in Miami.

Earnings have also been hit by currency fluctuations. The effect of this problem is also that the labor-intensive horticultural industry in Latin-America and Africa is bearing the brunt of this economic problem. Countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and other cut flower growers, which count on this industry as a major source of employment are badly hurting as a result. With unemployment figures continuing to rise in the nations which traditionally purchase flowers the future for the flower industry certainly can not be described as "rosy".

No comments: