The days of British chrysanthemums in supermarket bouquets could be numbered following a sharp fall in domestic production.
British production is in long-term decline and has fallen 40% in the past year alone as poor returns and cheap imports led producers to switch to more profitable flowers. Only 13 million of the 500 million chrysanthemums sold in Britain every year are now home-produced.
The largest British grower, Southern Glasshouse Produce, harvested its final chrysanthemums last month and has now switched to other crops, while the second-largest, Donaldsons, has also reduced the amount it grows.
This year the first substantial volumes arrived in the UK from Colombia and South Africa by ship, offering significantly cheaper flowers. Previously they had been airfreighted, which cost substantially more. Wholesale prices have fallen 5% in the past year [Defra] and suppliers say retail prices are lower than in 1998.
The cost of buying in cuttings, peat blocks and fertiliser had all risen as the value of sterling had fallen, said Colin Frampton, director of Donaldsons, which has cut production by 2.5ha. "Colombia and South Africa are growing using natural heat and light, and there's a migration of cut flower production to the southern hemisphere," said SGP chairman Jeff Hooper. "Production costs and wages are mitigating against northern hemisphere production."
The status of the chrysanthemum as a cheap flower for bouquets was making it increasingly unattractive to UK growers, added Andrea Caldecourt, chief executive of the Flowers & Plants Association. "It's a sad state of affairs because UK growers were the stalwarts of the flower market," she said. "Chrysanthemums are such a low-value product at retail, you can't get the margins on them."
Pot plants, peonies and seasonal summer annuals offered better prospects for UK growers as they were expensive and complicated to ship in, she said.
British production is in long-term decline and has fallen 40% in the past year alone as poor returns and cheap imports led producers to switch to more profitable flowers. Only 13 million of the 500 million chrysanthemums sold in Britain every year are now home-produced.
The largest British grower, Southern Glasshouse Produce, harvested its final chrysanthemums last month and has now switched to other crops, while the second-largest, Donaldsons, has also reduced the amount it grows.
This year the first substantial volumes arrived in the UK from Colombia and South Africa by ship, offering significantly cheaper flowers. Previously they had been airfreighted, which cost substantially more. Wholesale prices have fallen 5% in the past year [Defra] and suppliers say retail prices are lower than in 1998.
The cost of buying in cuttings, peat blocks and fertiliser had all risen as the value of sterling had fallen, said Colin Frampton, director of Donaldsons, which has cut production by 2.5ha. "Colombia and South Africa are growing using natural heat and light, and there's a migration of cut flower production to the southern hemisphere," said SGP chairman Jeff Hooper. "Production costs and wages are mitigating against northern hemisphere production."
The status of the chrysanthemum as a cheap flower for bouquets was making it increasingly unattractive to UK growers, added Andrea Caldecourt, chief executive of the Flowers & Plants Association. "It's a sad state of affairs because UK growers were the stalwarts of the flower market," she said. "Chrysanthemums are such a low-value product at retail, you can't get the margins on them."
Pot plants, peonies and seasonal summer annuals offered better prospects for UK growers as they were expensive and complicated to ship in, she said.
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