Flower dealers have started recording booming sales barely two days to Valentine’s Day.
Valentine's Day is marked on February 14 of every year.
The Kenya Flower Council says sales have already hit the 75 per cent mark of the average annual sector turnover of
Sh100 billion.
KFC chief executive Clement Tulezi said this is because most of the flower exports are pre-ordered and
most Valentines' orders are usually shipped
by February 5.
A single stem goes for about Sh50 in the export market. On average, a medium sized Rose bouquet
contains
18-20 stems.
Tulezi said February has always been a great test to the industry in terms of meeting demand especially of the red roses which are associated with love.
"The red rose is one of our greatest gold this month. People the world over associate it with love and being the “Month of Love”, our annual industry bottom-line is reaping from this glory."
Flower export value has grown tremendously in Kenya from Sh35.50 billion in 2010 to Sh70.80 billion in 2016.
The growth has been attributed to the rising international demands from the Kenyan flower industry as new markets continue to emerge.
Kenya is the third largest exporter of cut flowers in the world and accounts for about 35 per cent of all sales in Europe to countries like Holland, Germany, Britain, Switzerland, and France.
"We have also created in roads in Russia and the US, as well as China, Middle East, Japan and all other emerging markets. Currently, Kenya flowers are sold in more than 60 countries," Tulezi said.
The main cut flowers grown in Kenya are roses, carnations, and Alstromeria.
Others include Gypsophilla, Lilies Eryngiums, arabicum, hypericum, Statice, a range of summer flowers amongst many others.
Red Roses
A quick survey at multi-million Magana Flowers in Kikuyu town returned almost zero ready red rose stocks in all greenhouses that occupy about 19 hectares of land.
“We are totally sold out on the red roses because most of our customers pre-order way before February,” the firm’s chief executive Nicholas Ambanya said.
He said Kenyan flowers continue to attract the international
market because of their longer vase-life.
Magana Flowers harvests about 70,000 stems of flowers on average each day.
Local market
Ambanya however decried the inconsistent and low uptake of flowers locally.
He said Kenyans have different priorities in life and buying flowers regularly isn't one of them.
"We export 99.9 per cent of our flowers because of ready market internationally. Even the lowest percentage that we sell locally is Grade 2 because Kenyans do not invest in flowers. The sector is so capital-intensive and we have no choice but export our premiums," Ambanya revealed.
His sentiments were echoed by Doreen Chepkorir, the Quality and Standards Manager at Winchester Farm Limited.
"Most Kenyans are always drawn between catering for basic needs like food and school fees with buying flowers. Trends show that even those who can afford our premium grade 1 flowers still choose Grade 2. This is unlike the international market where flowers are a daily product on the table."
The Flower Council is working on measures to increase the local uptake in the spirit of Buy Kenya, Build Kenya.
For a start, the Council has reached out to the local Flower Vendors Association so as to collectively discuss issues around the local market and perhaps work on the subsidised costs in the long run.