A recently published CBI market survey for summer flowers, which was compiled by ProVerde, shows that turnover in summer flowers has increased steadily over the past couple of years. An important contributing factors has been steadily increasing supermarket sales and the resulting increased demand for bouquet fillers. The recent global economic crisis, however, has also affected the European summer flower trade.
Almost all summer flowers are sold as fillers, mixed with other flowers and greenery in bouquets. Particularly during the European winter months, large quantities of summer flowers like Gypsophila, Hypericum, Ornithogalum, Ranunculus, Solidago and Veronica are imported to complement European supply and to allow for a year-round supply of bouquets. Consequently, the best export window for summer flower exporters in developing countries is during the period October-May.
The two main exporters of summer flowers to the European Union are Kenya and Israel. Besides Kenya, other developing countries playing an important role in supplying summer flowers to the EU market are amongst others Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe.
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