The phalaenopsis industry has gone through some tough years and Danish grower Christian Schwartz of Gartneriet Rønbæk is, therefore, extra pleased to see that people are craving for orchids again. Currently, he is busy with the Mother's Day shipments, and this year, the demand is surpassing the supply. "We are completely sold out and we even had to say no to several orders." In turn, prices are higher than average.
Christian Schwartz
Busy with Mother's Day shipments
At Gartneriet Rønbæk in Hinnerup, around 900.000 Phalaenopsis plants in three size versions 6, 9, and 12 cm pots are being produced annually in their 2ha greenhouse. After Women's Day and Valentine's Day, Christmas, and Mother's Day are one of their most important holidays. Till Tuesday, they will probably be very busy with shipping out the Mother's Day orders, which will many go to Denmark and Germany. In these (and more countries around the globe) Mother's Day will be celebrated on Sunday, May 9 this year.
Demand surpasses supply
The demand is extremely high, says Schwartz. "Unlike previous years, we are now dealing with a shortage of plants; we do not have enough to meet the demand." And all sizes are doing well. "We are completely sold out," he says.
Better prices
And when the demand is higher than the supply, prices usually go up, also in this case. "Prices are about 5 to 10 percent above average."
The reason for the high demand
So, what could be the reason for the high demand? According to Schwartz, there may be several reasons: "One reason is probably the COVID-19 situation; more people are at home and want to brighten up their homes. And when looking at flowers and plants in general, we see an increase in demand across the board over the past year. I am very happy that people are looking for orchids again. Another reason could be that the production of orchids decreased over the last years. It could also contribute to the increase in requests."
Expectations for the rest of the year
Usually, the demand goes down after Mother's Day. However, when looking at last year, demand remained quite high for the time of the year. "Usually, when heading into summer, people start to look for plants in their garden and are usually not looking for plants in their homes as they are less indoors and will have holiday plans. Last year, however, many people worked from home and wanted to brighten up their homes with plants, even in summer. For this year, we do not know what will happen, but I expect that many people will stay home again and I hope they will again choose plants to brighten up their homes indoors again."
For more information:
Gartneriet Rønbæk
Christian H. Schwartz
Email: chr@roenbaek.dk
www.roenbaek.dk