Due to the decrease in supply as a result of the unrest in Ethiopia and the bad weather in Kenya, a significant increase in rose prices was expected for today. However, this spectacular increase did not happen.
Dutch rose grower Aad Fransen of Fransen Roses, who grows Red Naomi, did not see an increase in price on the clock today. "Despite the unrest in Ethiopia, the prices for roses are more or less at the same level compared to the last weeks."
Though, the prices are higher than usual during this time of the year, but according to Fransen, it has a different cause. "When we look at Red Naomi, we see that the amount of hectares decreased over the last half a year. Several growers stopped and 10 ha is in crop rotation. At the moment one can see a decrease of 25% compared to last year. The prices for the red roses, particularly the shorter stems, increased by 50%."
Also Will Zuiderwijk, Sales Manager at another Dutch rose nursery; Arend Roses, sees an increase in rose prices. They grow, among others, Avalanche and sees that the prices of the lengths 5-6 more than doubled.
The prices for red are, according to, Zuiderwijk, more stable than those of white, for example. "The prices of white slightly increased because the production in the Netherlands, due to the cold weather, decreased a bit."
However, the pressure on red is high. Like Fransen, Zuiderwijk tells us that the hectares of Red Naomi has shrunk. He adds that this might change in the coming weeks as the total number of hectares might decrease. Besides, the situation is also slightly dependent on how the situation in Ethiopia will develop.
All in all, the last weeks have been profitable for the Dutch growers. "But don't forget the Ethiopian growers", Zuiderwijk adds. "Before the unrest in the country, they received good prices and were able to ship their products. This in contrast to the Kenyan growers who had to deal with high freight rates and bad weather."