Flower sales bloom amid celebrations

On a chilly Saturday morning two men sit at a flower shop in the capital's Shahbagh with different flowers, thread, wrapping paper, adhesive tape and other materials. 

One of the men, Jahidul Islam, a private sector employee, was giving directions to the other, a florist, for a customised flower basket for a New Year's celebration programme at his office.

"Without flowers, we could not even imagine an event or celebration. I came early…because I thought it would be very busy here," said Islam.

Another customer, November Tuesday, was looking for flowers that match the colour of a cake. A software engineer by profession, she said it was meant for her parents for their wedding anniversary on December 31.

With increasing orders coming in centring New Year's celebrations and other events, the flower shops are becoming increasingly busy catering to customers amid their peak season for sales.

The retailers are hoping that they would be able to bounce back to profitability after two years of gloomy sales following the emergence of the pandemic.

In Bangladesh, demand for flowers starts to peak from November when the wedding season begins, they said.

The demand continues to stay high for more than four months for some national and global events.

These include Victory Day on December 16, Christmas Day on December 25, New Year's celebrations on December 31, Pohela Falgun, the first day of spring in the Bangla month of Falgun, Valentine's Day on February 14, International Mother Language Day on February 21 and Independence Day on March 26.

Many people and large corporate companies organise various events around December 31, said Mohammad Jahangir Hossain, manager of Fultala Flower Shop in Shahbagh.

That is why the demand and sale of flowers increase on this day with customer numbers starting to grow since morning, he said.

Sales on an average day can be in the range of Tk 20,000 to Tk 50,000, said Hossain.

However, on December 31, this can reach up to Tk 2 lakh to Tk 3 lakh with prices of flowers increasing by 5 per cent to 10 per cent per piece depending on the type, he said.

He believes 2023 would pass well apart from some challenges for the general elections scheduled to be held at the beginning of 2024.

Another flower seller, Mohammad Elias, at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Agargaon said sales had slightly decreased over the last couple of months for the increase in the cost of living.

However, sales have increased since Victory Day and are expected to peak centring the night of December 31, for which he had bought flowers worth around Tk 1 lakh.

According to Bangladesh Flower Society, an association of flower traders, there are 800 flower shops in the capital and over 20,000 across the country. Of these, 450 are wholesale and the rest are retail outlets.

According to the association, around Tk 1,500 crore-worth flowers were annually sold in the country.

More than 2,200 hectares of land across the country were used to grow flowers in fiscal year 2020-21, shows data of the Department of Agricultural Extension.

However, most of flowers come from Jhikargachha and areas surrounding Jashore.

Markets in Jashore see high demand for nightshade, rose, gerbera, lily, marigold, gladiolus, gypsy, calendula and chrysanthemum.

Roses are the most popular, accounting for about 30-35 per cent of the sales, followed by gladiolus, tuberose and gerbera, according to businesspeople.

Flower farmers in Gadkhali union of Jashore are expected to rake in about Tk 35 crore in the upcoming sales season, which begins with the New Year's celebrations.

During a recent visit to a flower market in Gadkhali, each rose was found to be selling at Tk 3 while gladiolus and gerbera for Tk 8 to Tk 10.

Meanwhile, a 100-piece bunch of chrysanthemum was priced at Tk 150 while a 1,000-piece bunch of marigold Tk 300.

Prices had increased and will rise further alongside demand in the upcoming occasions, said local florist Aminur Rahman.

Preparations are good for December 31 and January 1 and hopefully sales will also be good, said Bangladesh Flower Society President Abdur Rahim.

In these two days, he expects flowers worth Tk 40 crore to Tk 45 crore to be sold across the country.