Flower farms were banking on this year to grow cut-flower sales as well as expand to additional markets in Asia, Europe, Australia and North America before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March.
The emergence of the virus, however, changed this after countries imposed tough lockdown measures such as border closures as well as bans on both local and international flights to contain its spread.
These measures resulted in cancellations of overseas orders resulting in an estimated 40 percent plunge in sales. Consequently, workers were subjected to pay cuts or sent on unpaid leaves.
The approval of both Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines by health regulatories in the U.S., Canada and United Kingdom (UK) offers a glimmer of hope to the sector going into 2021.