COLOMBIA: As Valentine's Day approaches flower exporters in Colombia set for tough times as demand drops

Record ID: 241912

  • Title: COLOMBIA: As Valentine's Day approaches flower exporters in Colombia set for tough times as demand drops
  • Date: 13th February 2009
  • Summary: TENJO, COLOMBIA (FEBRUARY 11, 2009) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF FLOWER GROWING FARM VARIOUS OF WOMEN WORKING WITH FLOWERS (4 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF WOMAN PACKING ROSES IN A BOX (2 SHOTA) MAN CARRYING BOXES OF FLOWERS TO BE PROCESSED (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FLOWER GROWING FARM GENERAL MANAGER, CAROLINA ESTRADA, SAYING: "We are frightened because we have felt that the demand has l
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Economic News,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA3NJ1G93YYZ82PXUFJMDJ2X93F
  • Story Text: Harsh economic times could mean a miserable Valentines' Day for flower exporters in Colombia and Ecuador as demand drops and romance takes a back seat to belt tightening.
    Valentine's is the most important day of the year for South American flower growers, and this February 14 they are hoping romance will triumph over the economic gloom afflicting their biggest markets.
    Three-quarters of the cut flowers imported by the United States come from farms in the fertile Andean plains around Colombia's capital, Bogota.
    Neighboring Ecuador sends many more of the millions of red roses sold on Valentine's Day.
    Growers in the region expect sales to fall as consumers in the United States, Britain and Russia cut back.
    "We are frightened because we have felt that the demand has lowered. We calculate that in total the demand will lower by 30 per cent.
    Because of the same situation, people do not have money to buy flowers,"
    said Carolina Estrada, the manager of a Colombian rose farm.
    Nearby, in vast greenhouses, workers carefully box stems of red, pink and cream roses, which have suitably sentimental names such as Sweetness, Romance and Dark Engagement.
    One member of the Colombian flower work force described the emotional link with the flowers.
    "Flowers are like our kids - they feel. If you come to work sad they become sad, if you come to work happy they become happy, they feel everything, we have to know how to take care of them, just like a son, you have know how to guide them," said 33-year-old cutter Yolanda Orjuela, who has worked on flower farms for 10 years.
    The multibillion-dollar flower industry employs about 200,000 people in Colombia, the world's second-biggest exporter after the Netherlands, and another 180,000 in Ecuador.
    Throughout the farms, hundreds of extra staff are taken on in the run-up to Valentine's, which normally accounts for between 15 and 18 percent of annual sales.
    Every day, 25 or 30 flights leave Colombia, carrying flowers as far afield as Japan, according to flower exporters' association Asocolflores, which expects the country to ship some 1.7 million boxes of flowers for Feb. 14 this year.
    Even before recession hit, times were tough for Colombian suppliers due to the sharp appreciation of the peso against the U.S. dollar. Asocolflores head Augusto Solano said about 18,000 jobs had been lost in the last two or three years.
    Despite the gloomy outlook, industry leaders like Solano are banking on the reliability of the tried and true bouquet of roses, carnations and lilies.
    "In general, there has been much expectation, a great uncertainty, great concern due to the seriousness of this crisis that will definitively be affecting the consumer's pockets. But we are making our case based on the fact that flowers are the most traditional and symbolic gift during on the day of lovers and love," he said.
    The peso has weakened against the greenback in recent months, which could help exporters ride out the global economic crisis, but some workers fear further hardship.
    The average American consumer plans to spend $102.50 on Valentine's gifts this year, down from $122.98 in 2008, and just over a third of them will buy flowers, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.
    Sales normally decline when Valentine's falls on a weekend, as it does this year, but floral suppliers say they will not know the full extent of any downturn for several months.
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