Turkey’s flower growers are looking for new foreign markets as demand has dropped significantly because of the global pandemic.
The industry’s exports stood at $107 million last year and growers had initially set a higher revenue target of $125 million for 2020, however the coronavirus outbreak shattered their hopes.
“The industry is suffering greatly from the pandemic. We even want to distribute flowers for free, but people do not accept this offer out of fear that they may get infected with the virus. The closure of hotels was also another blow to the sector. We had to let the flowers rot,” said İsmail Yılmaz, the head of a flower exporters’ association.
According to Yılmaz, local growers are looking for new markets, eyeing particularly Italy and Spain.
