For every 10 stems of fresh cut red roses sold in Europe during valentine’s season, 3 stems are from Kenya. In this regard, Kenyan reds are expected to perform well during this romantic season. Days before February 14th, rose growers looking to cash-in had already started flushing their reds so that they could have enough stems to meet the demand. This is the time of the year when most Kenyan rose growers/exporters make about 30% of their total annual sales.  

Valentine’s Day Floral Statistics From Florists

It is estimated that more than 250 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day is more a flower event than a red roses event. The flower turnover was almost €100 million, the highest ever turnover for flowers in one week. Turnover grew by 9% compared with week 6 in 2016. The number of items declined by 5%, while the average price rose by 15%. In the last full week before Valentine’s Day, the turnover was € 142 million.

300 million stems

Of the total supply of 300 million stems of cut flowers in this week, one-third consisted of roses, one-third of tulips and one-third for the rest of the assortment. The supply of tulips and roses was under pressure: the supply of roses decreased by 8%, the supply of tulips by 11%. The majority of the roses came from abroad, only 20% of the total supply of roses came from the Netherlands.

Growth in turnover of houseplants 11%

For houseplants, the growth was derived more from the quantity of items. The supply increased by 7%, and the average price rose by 4%. It became evident from the proportion of supply of the different products that plants are not as important gifts on Valentine’s Day. The supply of pot roses increased by 10%, while the number of Kalanchoë – not really a Valentine’s Day plant – rose by 43% and thus showed the greatest increase