F. Optimal Connection Market Review Week 4

It’s been a very busy beginning of 2018, especially for our Head of Roses Department, Ishai Sharon. However, he was able spare some time to give us his much anticipated market review.

Ishai Sharon, Head of Roses Department

As Ishai puts it, “The month of January is almost at its end and we can already summarize this month as a very successful period.”

He continues to state that in 2017 during the period of January the roses market became better and this year with even higher prices than the past. A few reasons for this phenomenon are:

The night temperatures in Kenya, especially in the high altitude farms, were cold and the production was lower. In addition, more growers are targeting the flush production directly for Valentine’s and the Women Day so one will miss flowers in this period.
In Ethiopia, the night temperatures in this period are extremely low and the supply to the market is very small.
Changing weather in Europe, higher temperatures have caused better market conditions, open market and higher demand.
The economy in Europe is in bloom and people spend more money on flowers.
Grandmother’s Day in Poland, one of the biggest flower consumers in Europe, on the third weekend of January, is becoming more significant every year.
Good varieties with better vase life allows earlier purchase (already on week 4) by the buyers, especially for East of Europe and the markets outside of Europe. They also promote the roses earlier for the Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day

“We feel the high demand for the Valentine on the market,” in Ishai’s view. Some big direct deals have already closed and more flowers are selling out of Europe, causing higher demand in the main flowers market.

Ethiopia will loose a big part of the supply for Valentine’s Day because of the extreme cold weather they’re experiencing. In Ecuador the weather is also cold and it is not certain whether all the production will reach the market in time for Valentine’s.

Ishai is happy to report that because the 14^th of February falls this year on a Wednesday, it is an advantage as it gives more sales days, including 2 days after the weekend.

The market is able to pay extra for high quality. This is why it’s crucial that growers make they bring fresh flowers and give extra attention for the whole post harvest process, Ishai affirms.

“We are all aware that the freight capacity is not enough,”Ishai states, “You have to make all efforts to send the flowers immediately and not to keep any stock in the farm.

We wish you all good Valentine’s Day sales.

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