Mother’s Day: flower trade projects high sales – 05/11/2023 – Market

Still under the effect of a breakdown between supply and demand caused by the pandemic, flower prices did not give a truce for this Mother’s Day, according to florists and producers. Despite this, the expectation of the sector is that sales grow in comparison with last year.

Owner of the flower shop A Bela do Dia, in Pinheiros, Marina Gurgel Prado, 36, says that the store’s performance is at a good pace for the date. In ecommerce alone, there were more than one hundred orders from Sunday to Tuesday afternoon (9), and the projection is that this week’s result will exceed the same period last year, when the establishment hit 550 online orders.

Since January, Prado says he has felt a jump in the value of some products. According to her, traditional flowers, such as lily and lisianthus, were the most expensive. “A pack of bromeliads that cost R$8 is being sold for R$38. And the lisianth, which I used to buy for R$15, costs R$48.”

Even so, the florist says she has already negotiated prices and placed almost all orders. “Last year, I couldn’t organize it. The suppliers didn’t know how to say what was coming, the exact quantity. I had to ask several to guarantee that there would be no shortage and, in the end, there was left over.”

As the Panel SA column showed, on the eve of the date in 2022, flower shops saw a spike in the value of cut flowers – which are sold out of the vase, for bouquets and decorations.

According to Thiago de Oliveira, head of the economics section at Ceagesp (Companhia de Entrepostos e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo), the interruption of weddings, debutante balls and cruise ships made demand in the sector plummet in the pandemic. “Following, producers migrated to other cultures. Some of them continued in the sector, but planted a smaller area than in the past”, he explains.

Now, with the return of events, Oliveira says that the cost of production and the value of labor is different, which is reflected in prices. Despite the expectation of growth in sales of the main flowers, Ceagesp does not foresee reaching the pre-pandemic level in the near future.

Renato Optiz, director of Ibraflor (Brazilian Institute of Floriculture), says that the offer this year is already better, but has not yet reached the perfect balance. “There are some cut flowers whose cycle is up to two years. But 80% [da produção] It’s already resumed.”

Florist Anely Roche, 35, has seen the price of some flowers, such as bromeliads and roses, skyrocket in the last two weeks. She claims that the market still cannot guarantee competitiveness and that it depends on a few producers to supply the Terrane studio, which she owns.

“Small producers are coming back, but they still don’t have enough quantity to compete. We buy most of our cut flowers from large producers, and they end up ruling the market.”

The cooperative Veiling Holambra, which brings together around 450 producers, estimates that the volume of flowers sold during this Mother’s Day period will reach a total of 22.2 million units – a level slightly higher than that observed last year.

After plummeting at the beginning of the pandemic, sales at Veiling Holambra have been growing since 2021, driven mainly by potted and ornamental plants.

Cut flowers are already recovering in 2023, after three years of decline, according to Jorge Possato Teixeira, CEO of Veiling Holambra. The cooperative, however, does not disclose data regarding this type of flower.

The Cooperflora and Ceaflor flower markets, located in the region of Holambra (SP), also point to an increase, which varies from 6% to 10%, in the volume sold for Mother’s Day this year compared to last year.

In the opinion of florist Gabriela Nora, 47, the high demand from supermarkets also hinders the supply of flower shops. On this Mother’s Day, she says she is having difficulty buying the flowers and has already readjusted the price by an average of 15% at her store, Galeria Botânica, located in Pinheiros.

“May, in addition to being the month of mothers, is the month of brides. What they do today is to separate many flowers for the big buyers, which are the supermarkets”, he says.

Large chains, such as Pão de Açúcar and Cobasi, do not disclose the number of flowers sold, but project annual growth between 10% and 15% in sales for Mother’s Day.

Raquel Franzini, who manages the Conecta Floristas profile, on Instagram, with content for professionals in the sector, says that prices in supermarkets are more competitive, because these chains buy in a very large volume. However, the quality is not always the same, according to her.

“We work, we have the technical knowledge to choose the flower, to know if it is new or not so that it lasts as long as possible in the client’s house”, says the florist.

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