With Valentine’s Day, greenhouses and auction companies were filled with activity in Turkey these days. Growers in Izmir, one of the most important production cities in the country, are working diligently to fulfill the orders they have received for Valentine’s Day.
Currently around 27.5 million stems of flowers are grown annually in Izmir in a production area of 162 hectares. Approximately 20 varieties are grown in Izmir, mainly carnations and roses.
After harvest, flowers are sold at Izmir Flora Growers Cooperative Auction. Valentine’s Day is regarded as a festival for flower growers and most growers try to arrange their harvest time according to the Valentine’s Day date. As usual, rose is the most in-demand product before Valentine’s Day and rose prices vary between 1 USD and 3 USD per stem at growers.
Izmir Chamber of Florists Chairman Kazim Kis: “We are looking forward to Valentine’s Day as florists. We expect 3 million stems of roses to be sold in Izmir auctions for Valentine’s Day. If the weather conditions are better, the volume can go up to 5 million. There will be no shortage of supply of roses on Valentine’s Day.”
Source: Yeni Asir
500 million USD worth of flowers
Turkey Florists Association Chairman Ismail Basaran: “Almost 25 % of all the gifts given during Valentine’s Day are flowers. We estimate that roughly 500 million USD worth of flowers are sold in Turkey during Valentine’s Day.
On Valentine’s Day and during the week leading to it, growers and florists are working tirelessly to prepare themselves for this big day and they expect this day as exciting as lovers do.
Roses are the most sought item followed by phalaenopsis, lilium and gerbera. 12,000 florists across Turkey work from the early hours of Valentine’s Day until midnight to fulfill the orders they receive and usually in one day the consumers purchase as much products as they purchase in one month.
The prices have increased by 20 % compared to last year and one stem of rose is sold starting from 2 USD. A good looking bouquet will cost around 20 USD at the very least on this special day. Also florists are designing different products for this special day, such as boxed flowers.”
Source: Timeturk
Florists in Ankara excited about Valentine’s Day
Ankara Chamber of Florists Chairman Metin Aydemir: “Last year, Ankara market has received around 3.5 million cut flowers. This year we expect this number to be around 4 million stems. The sales of cut flowers triple during Valentine’s Day.
Local roses are sold between 2 USD – 5 USD whereas phalaenopsis are sold between 20 – 40 USD and a bunch of wildflowers are sold at somewhere between 5 – 7 USD.”
SS Flora Growers Cooperative Ankara Official Sezgin Nargun: “Main cut flower production cities in Turkey are Antalya, Izmir, Yalova, Sakarya, Tokat, Mersin and Adana. Winter production takes places in Izmir, Adana and Mersin where the climate is more lukewarm whereas summer production takes place in cities such as Yalova and Tokat.
The auction hall in Ankara is the biggest sales point in the Central Anatolian region and florists came from other Central Anatolia cities such Cankara, Corum, Sivas and Nevsehir to purchase flowers for their shops.”
Source: Haberturk
200,000 roses are expected to be sold in Samsun
Everybody is chasing roses as Valentine’s Day is knocking on the door. The rose, regarded as the symbol of love, is the most popular flower again for consumers and the auction hall in Samsun, which has been running since 1982, is ensuring that florists can purchase flowers for Valentine’s Day from growers.
The auction hall in Samsun, located on northeast part of Turkey, receives products from growers all around Turkey and the buyers come not only from Samsun but also from neighboring cities such as Giresun, Ordu, Samsun, Amasya and Sinop.
Roses usually come from Adana and Izmir and the sales are about 50% higher than usual. The auction official expects around 200,000 roses to be sold on Valentine’s Day at the auction. The auction also offers different variety of products such as phalaenopsis and carnations.
Source: Haber
Lively days at the cut flower auction in Istanbul
Florists are packing the halls of the auction hall in Istanbul to purchase the best flowers for their customers. Florists report that the prices at the auction are quite high compared to the rest of the year however some of them underline that the prices are actually lower compared to previous years' Valentine's Days.
The auction hall is run by SS Flora Growers Cooperative and is located in Ayazaga. There are two more other auction halls in Istanbul owned by SS Flora in order to fulfill the high demand in Istanbul market which is estimated to make up half of the demand in Turkey.
Florists have started purchasing flowers and keeping stock from a week before.
SS Flora Auction Chairman Muammer Yazici: “The prices naturally increased due to Valentine’s Day however the production has also increased by 30 %. Locally grown roses are garnering a lot of interest in the market and the auction has been working at full capacity in the last week. 15 million stems of flowers are sold in our Ayazaga auction hall within the last week. 6 million of this volume is local roses. Imported roses are too expensive so florists prefer domestic roses and we recommend our people to purchase local roses as well. The price increase is simply because of how the market and the auction system works. When the demand increases, the prices also increase so it is not possible to blame growers or florists for high prices.
Source: Beyaz Gazete
Busy days in Yalova flower auction thanks to Valentine’s Day
Flower auction officials in Yalova report that in recent days, flower sales have tripled thanks to Valentine’s Day.
Yalova is an important production area for cut flowers and Valentine’s Day have created a lot of activity in the auction area in Yalova.
The auction area is owned and run by SS Flora Growers Cooperative which has 18 auction places in Turkey. There are close to 6,000 growers in SS Flora Growers cooperative and the activity in all auction places started to pick up about 10 days before Valentine’s Day.
The price of one bunch of roses increased from 16 – 20 USD almost up to 40 – 50 USD. Yalova auction reports that the sales increased from 100 boxes per day to 300 boxes in the last 10 days and that rose is the most popular product for buyers as usual. Growers in the area underline that the rising prices are a natural result of the increase in demand due to Valentine’s Day and that they have no control over prices.
Source: Ekonomi 24