"Germany: "Valentine's Day becomes more colorful"

In the run-up to Valentine's Day, cold, snow and ice hampered the buying mood of retailers in some regions in Germany, auction prices for the red roses were high - till the Monday before the holiday and the expectations of the wholesalers were low. Flower wholesalers that placed pre-orders seemed to partly profit from their preliminary planning.

This, in a nutshell, was revealed by a survey conducted by the Association of the German Flower Wholesale and Import Trade (BGI), a national interest group of the German cut flower and pot plant wholesalers and import dealers, among its members.

Demand for spring products
"This time neither the weather nor the carnival or a volcanic eruption has crossed our way," a wholesaler in South Germany told the GBI. According to the traders, the fact that Valentine's Day fell on a weekday encouraged consumers not only to buy flowers for private use, but also as an appreciation to employees and colleagues. Next to the red and colored roses, the sales of spring products such as ranches, anemones, freesia, tulips and (mini) gerberas have risen too. Especially in the west and in the center of Germany, the wholesalers noticed a high demand for the red rose, despite the high prices. However, this year's Valentine's day was "more colorful".

All in all, the wholesalers realized that the Valentine's purchases were focusing strongly on cut flowers this year, but some retailers also reported the first sales of outdoor products for the spring garden. Room plants seemed to be less in demand this year.

In the east a mixed mood image
For many of the wholesale traders interviewed in the East, Women's Day is still more important than Valentine's Day. Nevertheless, East German flower wholesalers were also able to register a sales increase and reached a comparable level as for Women's Day. The spectrum in the East ranged from a rather restrained mood to a clear turnover plus and more than fulfilled expectations. In this area, the specialist trade hesitantly ordered before Valentine's Day. However, the sunny Monday and Tuesday, inspired many florists to shop for Valentine's Day at short notice. This in turn resulted in extremely busy times for wholesalers. They barely had time to fulfill the wishes of the retailers. Roses were once again in high demand and in Berlin, wholesalers were even sold out, with the red roses being the top product by far.

Media
The media reports on Valentine's Day resulted in mixed opinions among the wholesalers. Valentine's Day was in the news quite often, however, the messages were not always that positive for the flower industry. Flower gifts, for example were portrayed as unoriginal and often overpriced. The focus on the red rose was also not that helpful as they were used as an example for the price structure in the flower trade, which is not giving a realistic overview of the situation. This lack of knowledge about pricing in the trade led to prejudices about the profits of the wholesale flower trade during Valentine's Day. In turn, some traders complained.

For more information
BGI
Verband des Deutschen Blumen- Groß- und Importhandels e.V.
Carl-Kuehne-Straße 2
D-47638 Straelen-Herongen
Phone: +49 (0) 2839 / 5692-732
Fax: +49 (0) 2839 / 5688-733
E-Mail: info@bgi-ev.de
www.bgi-ev.de