Bereket Adane at the BSI meeting that was held at the Aalsmeer auction in the Netherlands, in September 2015.
Low prices UK Mother's Day
The year did not take off well for many East African growers. "Due to the unusual cold that lasted till mid February, many growers had difficulties with supplying the roses on time for Valentine's Day (February 14th)", explains Bereket. "After Valentine's Day, the weather conditions improved and resulted in huge flush of flowers in Mid-March." Unfortunately, the demand was low. According to Bereket, there was no big holiday that could grasp the volume. "UK Mother's Day was celebrated on March 26, but the demand was lower than usual." This combined with the high supply of roses at the auction resulted in a decrease in price. "We have never seen such low prices for UK Mother's Day. They were about 23 percent lower than usual."
High volumes
Also for Mother's Day that will be celebrated on May 12 and French Mother's Day celebrated on May 28, Bereket expects high volumes again on the auction. "Many Ethiopian rose growers will export higher volumes the coming days. We, for example, will ship our first Mother's Day batch tomorrow, on April 25. Then, the second, for French Mother's Day, will be sent around Mid-May."
Better prices from Friday
According to Bereket, many expect the prices to increase by Friday. "The price per Ethiopian rose stem should be 20 euro cents or more." But Bereket is still hesitant. "Even though, the prices are a bit higher than last week, they are still low. Usually, the prices are about 16 to 17 euro cents per stem during this time of the year, but it's now only 12 cent per stem; a 25 percent decrease. Of course, I very much hope the prices will increase by Friday, but looking at these numbers I am not that sure. We will see, nobody knows."
For more information
Dugda Flora
Bereket Adane
Email: dugdageneral@gmail.com