What is going on with the current rose shortage?

Where did all the roses go? In their recent livestream, John Elstgeest from Flower Circus discussed the topic with Michael Black from Jet Fresh Flowers / Growers, and Alejandro Henao from Naranjo Roses to find out.

Are there any roses left?
Black explains that part of the reason is the sudden increase in demand as a result of the pandemic. "For example, where I work in Miami, typically there is an inventory. Yet at the moment, the inventory is just extremely low, as the flowers are selling before they even hit the warehouse."

Snow in Ecuador
On top of that, the recent weather conditions have been impacting growers negatively. Black says: "August and July are supposed to be warm, but instead it has been cold and rainy." And Henao adds that there has been snow in Ecuador. "Just to remind everybody, we normally don't get snow here. In Ecuador, we only see snow in the movies we watch," says Henao. "As a result, this unseasonable cold weather is affecting the production."

Farms sold
Black explains that recently, many farms have been bought by big supermarkets/suppliers. "I have received an email recently that a farm was acquired, and that my standing orders were therefore being canceled. We then have to find a way to fill these order through another farm, which is taking more of the open market availability off the table."

To watch the full livestream, watch the video above.

For more information:
Flower Circus
E: info@flowercircus.nl
www.flowercircus.nl