The total export value of Colombia hydrangeas in 2020 decreased by 25% compared to the total export value of hydrangea in 2019? What could be the reason? We discuss it, Colombian hydrangea grower Catalina Arango of Flores del Este.
Figures
When looking at the figures of 2020 (Jan - Dec), the total export value of the Colombian hydrangeas was U$ 53.946.547, whereas it was U$ 71.853.232 in 2019 (Jan-Dec). The main markets in 2020 are the USA, Canada and Korea, followed by The Netherlands, Japan, UAE, Russia, UK, China and Malaysia.
Reason for decrease
"A plausible reason for the decrease is that less amount of stems have been exported in 2020 compared to 2019, explains Arango. Ït is all due to COVID-19. Many hydrangea farms closed and many growers had to sell to the big companies locally in Colombia because they were the only ones selling as their customers are the supermarkets. The supermarkets in the US, even increased their flower sales in 2020, however on the contrary, there were no events and no weddings. This also significantly affected the sales to countries in Europe, Japan and the UK."
"Fortunately, on the positive side, people started buying homes flowers for their homes. However, this increase did not seem to balance out the amounts that was lost due to the cancellations of all kind of events."
How is Flores del Este doing?
Arango is pleased with how Flores del Este is doing. "Valentine’s Day has been a great holiday for us: demand is high, like no other Valentine’s Day before - and this for a holiday that is more a for roses and not for hydrangeas."
Also last year, they have not been sitting still. "During covid we also took the opportunity to expand our natural green hydrangea and completed 3 additional hectares." As a result, they are planning to produce 4 million stems of hydrangea this year - last year, they produced 3.5 million stems. "During COVID-19, we decided to continue with full production of all the hydrangeas to be able to offer our customers the same quality and amount of hydrangeas when the market was ready. The cycle of the hydrangea is between 7-9 months to produce them, so we needed to be prepared with flowers."
Flores Del E
ste
Catalina Arango
Email: carango@floresdeleste.com
www.floresdeleste.com