Andrey of Camellia at the Flower Expo Ukraine.
Increasing demand spray roses
According to Andrey, spray roses are upcoming in Ukraine. "A couple of years ago, no one looked at spray roses, but now they are very popular." Currently, 13 varieties of single bud roses and 12 sorts of spray roses are being cultivated in the greenhouse of Camellia. Besides the increasing popularity of spray roses, consumers are always looking for new varieties, also in the single bud roses. "Consumers want to try out new varieties. Therefore, we are adding 2 to 3 new varieties to our assortment every year," he says.
Click here to see the video of Camellia' greenhouse.
Increasing demand local produce
Next to their own grown roses, Camellia also sells import roses from Holland, Colombia, Ecuador, Israel and Kenya. "In the very beginning, in 1994 we were only focused on importing roses. However, after a while we decided to build a greenhouse implemented with the advanced Dutch technologies and we began to develop our own flower production in Ukraine," says Andrey. And the demand for the locally grown roses is increasing. "Due to the difficult situation here in Ukraine, the consumers are looking for more affordable flowers. Our roses are more or less 15 to 50 percent cheaper compared to the imported roses, while there are not so many differences in quality anymore. The demand for our imported flowers decreased by, I do not have the exact numbers, around 50 percent last year," says Andrey.
Click here to see the video of Camellia' greenhouse.
Situation improving
Ukraine is still suffering from the crisis. Consumers have less money to spend, but they still buy flowers, however a bit less and cheaper ones. According to Andrey, the situation in Ukraine is improving. "This year is better than last year. However, it is still worse than 3 to 4 years ago. So, we still have a long way to go, but I am positive and I strongly believe that we are on our way up now and that we will get out of the crisis," he says.
Camellia
Camellia uses 7ha of their 11ha sized greenhouse to cultivate roses year round. Next to roses, they also grow tulips and pot plants seasonally. The plants, flowers and floristic products are being sold through 17 Camellia's outlets in Kiev, Ukraine.
For more information
Camillia
Andrey
Email: andrey@camellia.com.ua
www.camellia.ua