Turkey is a producer of many flower varieties, but the country also imports a lot of stock to meet demand from customers.
Demand changes seasonally, according to Hasan Konak, who has been running a traditional florist, Bebek Cicekcilik. “Right now,” he says, “lilacs are in season. Hyacinths in the spring. Narcissus flowers [in colder weather]. Sunflower season is coming up in a week.” Yet Konak says customers can get their hands on flowers from any season these days. Konak believes “it would be better if Turkey were to produce most of the varieties we buy,” as the country “cannot meet the demand, unfortunately.”
“Our sector is very dependent on imports in order to meet demand,” Sena Saban, Sales and Marketing Manager of florist Ceremony, continues. “But we are leading the way in utilizing fresh, local and sustainable flowers in our arrangements in the past year, [as opposed to importing most of our flowers]” she notes. “We are supporting local fields and increasingly buying from local sources [in Turkey] and that is a very positive step for our industry.”
Saban says that customer demand inevitably shapes Ceremony Flowers & Events’ floral buying choices. “Up until last year we would buy about 30 percent of our flowers from local [Turkish] sources,” she explains. “But then we started our Slow Bouquet movement, and increased our local buying percentage to 40 percent. We plan to increase this percentage up to 80 percent by visiting local fields.”