A rosy Valentine's Day (and year) for the queen of flowers

Packets of roses arranged for the auction. DH PHOTO/B K JANARDHAN

Workers arrange packets of roses for the auction. DH PHOTO/B K JANARDHAN

Roses have been selling like hot cakes since the start of this financial year, breaking previous records. And Valentine's Day is putting cherry on top.

Floriculturists from Bengaluru and the surrounding places have hit a jackpot this year after having suffered losses in the last two years due to Covid-19.

Although the peak February season starts only on the ninth, the long-stem Taj Mahal variety was selling for Rs 30 apiece before that.

Roses grown in Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur and the surrounding districts are in high demand both in India and abroad. The exports are facilitated by the International Flower Auction Bangalore (IFAB), a company that auctions cut-flowers of various flower crops.

On Wednesday, 63 bidders took part in the rose auction at the IFAB. This number would be 30-40 on normal days. While normal days see no more than three auctions each, the IFAB expects at least 4-5 auctions a day between February 9 and 13. Bidding may even go until the night hours, the company said.

Since the start of this week, 4.75 lakh to 5 lakh rose stems are being sold per day at Rs 14-15 each. The IFAB expects this number to rise to 5.5-6 lakhs by February 13. In total, Valentine's Week is expected to bring in Rs 4-5 crore in sales, a 30% increase over a normal week.

The bumper sales aren't limited to Valentine's Day, though. The IFAB has already seen sales to the tune of Rs 37 crore this financial year (until January). Before that, the annual turnover never crossed Rs 36 crore, according to the IFAB. In November 2021, the Noblesse (pink) rose was sold for Rs 40 per stem, a record.

M Vishwanath, Managing Director, IFAB, sees an even rosier scenario: Rs 50-60 crore in sales for 2021-22. "Now that almost all Covid restrictions have been withdrawn, people are showing interest in buying flowers for decoration purposes as well as Valentine's Day," he said. Weddings and other events will boost the sales further, he added.

Farmers are elated. While they will need two more years to offset the losses, this season has been very good for them, said T M Aravind, president, South India Floriculture Association. "The prices are good and everyone is happy," he added.

But exports have been hit because cargo costs have risen by 30-40%. Exporters aren't coming forward, he said.

Where are the roses grown?

Doddaballapur, Anekal, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Ballari, Hosapete, Tumakuru, Hosur, and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Where are they sold?

Notable domestic markets include Delhi, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Export markets include Singapore, Malaysia, West Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

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