While the US consumer Valentine's Day spending forecast is optimistic (see the Prince & Prince survey), flower buyers seem to be hesitant. "Pre-books were below expectations, and market players were holding up orders until the last minute", explains Pablo Bazzani of Plazoleta, the first winner of the AIPH Young International Grower of the Year. He grows several summer and focal flowers on around 30 ha in Bogota.
Valentine's Day is one of Plazoleta's most important holidays, where they ship the majority of the flowers to the US and Canada. Fortunately, their main products for this holiday, such as Alstroemeria, Limonium, Statice, Solidago, and Snapdragon, are doing 'pretty decent' in production, he says. "However, sales shrank in less time, making availability our current challenge."
But as the production is delayed at several rose farms, Bazzini hopes demand may increase for their flowers. "However, the game is still open for the open market with some availability. More flowers are available in the market, so things are not in their place yet."
"All in all, there is still so much to understand about the new market reality. While niche markets are pretty stable and loyal, opportunity markets are pushing to their side as much as possible, so our current focus is to settle down regularly in markets you can trust."
For more informa
tion:
Pablo Bazzani
Plazoleta
Email: [email protected]
www.laplazoleta.com