Juan Carlos Cevallos at the IFTF in Vijfhuizen, Ecuador.
No drop in supermarket flower sales
Flower sales are often lower when Valentine's Day is on a weekend. However, this does not seem to count for Galapagos Flores. According to Cevallos, this is because they supply mostly supermarkets. "We have been in the flower business for more than 30 years now, so we've experienced several of these Valentine's Days on the weekend. Of course, historically speaking, total sales of Valentine's Day flowers are a bit lower these days. However, this mostly counts for wholesalers and flower shops, we've never experienced a drop in sales during this time." According to him, the supermarket flower sales might be even higher on such a day as most of the supermarket flower bouquet sales are impulse purchases. "Lovers often have other events planned on the weekend to celebrate this day. So, when visiting the supermarket, before going out they mostly impulsively grab a bouquet of flowers," says Cevallos.
Expensive bouquets to impress
Besides that, according to Cevallos, Valentine's Day flower arrangements are not only bought to express your feelings to loved ones but also to impress the surrounding people. "Often, people buy an expensive flower arrangement bouquet from the flower shop to impress colleagues and friends of their loved ones. However, as Valentine's Day 2016 will be on a Sunday, there will be no colleagues and/ or friends around. This combined with the fact that many lovers are spending more money on going out at the weekend, a supermarket bouquet of roses will often suffice," says Cevallos.
Galapagos Flores
Galapagos Flores grows 80 rose varieties in 8 ha of greenhouses in the Tabacundo Region in Ecuador. Their flowers are distributed to more than 15 countries worldwide "Our sales are divided 50% to the European market, 30% to the American market, and 20% to Russia and Ukraine," explains Cevallos.
For more information
Galapagos Flores
Juan Carlos Cevallos
Email: jccevallos@galapagosflores.com
www.galapagosflores.com