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Trend in Germany towards regional products

The Dutch-German export of flowers and plants is one of the largest in the world, involving €1.6 billion, according to Floridata. Germany is the top trading partner for the Netherlands. Together with the Netherlands, the UK and France, Germany is among the core countries for Royal FloraHolland.

Motivation of the German consumer to buy
The German economy grew by 1.5% in 2015. Thanks to the increases in salaries and employment, the economic climate and consumption are growing strongly. Yet, despite this increase in disposable income in Germany, a smaller proportion of it is being spent on plants and flowers.

The growing demand for responsibly produced flowers and plants and fair trade production, as well as the preference for regional products, requires new concepts in the trade. The German consumer is choosing more and more conscientiously and is asking for products without pesticides. Most consumers are prepared to pay more for these products. These trends offer new possibilities for companies in the sector.

Consumer trends regarding flowers and plants
The consumer tracker of Royal FloraHolland provides insights into the buying behaviour of consumers in Germany:
  • Based on consumers' spending data, the rose is in top place with 17%
  • Buying flowers as a gift increased to 67%, especially for birthday presents. Plants are more likely to be bought for personal use, but are the favourite choice for a birthday present.
  • 18% of the interviewed consumer panel bought a bunch of flowers once a month
  • The day of the week when the purchase was made is roughly similar, except for Friday, when 20% more houseplants and 23% more cut flowers are sold.
Most important marketing channels
For cut flowers the specialist trade remains the most important market, but it is gradually losing market share to the discounter. Sites with a lot of traffic will be more important for florists in coming years. Shop in Shop modules may be profitable. And supermarkets will continue to win ground in the sales of cheap flowers.

The situation is different for plants. In the future, they will be sold primarily through supermarkets and DIY stores. Plants are being sold in large quantities because the price pressure is too high. There is a risk that the assortment will shrink as a result, which will then provide the specialist trade with an opportunity if it moves into the niche market.

Source: Royal FloraHolland
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