Flowers are a girl's best friend

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

There is a well known joke that flower sellers in Azerbaijan enter the Forbes list after March 8, the World’s Women Day.

Flowers will always be the dream gift for most women. Baku’s visitors walking around the city frequently come across young girls and women carrying flowers in their arms.

Flowers are a big thing in Baku and girls most of all enjoy them tremendously. It would actually impossible to miss the many flower shops spread across the city, doting the urban set-up with explosions of colors and agreeable scents.

And because Azerbaijan is home to all climatic zones, the flower industry has thrived. Experts have confirmed that the flower industry has been a very profitable industry sector indeed.

The price range in Baku from 10 manats to 200 manats and higher for a bouquet of flowers, reaching the price of another girl’s best friend – diamonds!

However, the flower business can be a tricky affair, considering that it deals with perishable goods.

Economists believe the number of flowers sold depends on the richness of a particular region or city as well as the mentality of its people.

Flowers remain the go-to present in many occasions -- from birthday to Knowledge day, florists have made their fortunes.

Flowers are so important to Azerbaijan that there is even a Flower Day inscribe to its calendar.

Every year in May, the country gathers its most beautiful flowers and put them on display for the world to see.

Despite the fact that the percentage of write-off flowers is high, this sector has a decent profit margin - 50 percent and above, thus it has attracted new people to the business. The average mark-up on flowers stands at 100-300 percent.

The global flower business represents an estimated $37.5 billion today, said Nariman Agayev, chairman of the Sustainable Development Research Center.

He explained that the flower business can generate very good dividends.

Before gaining independence in early 1990, Azerbaijan was a main exporter of Dianthus to Russia which represents today about eight percent of the world flower business.

Azerbaijan has excellent climatic conditions for the cultivation of flowers, including long daylight hours, climate diversity and a rich soil. The country has also an affordable work force.

The country can provide not only to its local market, but it also can send its flowers for export. However, Azerbaijan still imports some of its flowers, a reality which has affected prices and led to large fluctuations before the holidays.

Experts believe that an investment of 20-30 million manats in the flower business can pay off with interests in only four years.

“First, our country could enter the flower market in Russia. For flower exporters it is a huge market, and if we can occupy at least 5-10 percent of the flower market of this country, it will be sufficient for Azerbaijan,” Agayev stressed.

Azerbaijan can enter the Russian market not only with its Dianthus, but also with its roses and tulips, the expert noted, stressing the need to create conditions and cause a corresponding interest for entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, new sorts of roses are raised in the Central Botanic Garden. Roses are of special interest in Azerbaijan and these flowers are rearing up in a number of greenhouse complexes.

Today, the flower market world is ruled by the Netherlands, Columbia and Ecuador. And though the sector of the economy suffered somewhat from the economic downturn, it still remains a profitable industry. The Earth is still spinning and flowers remain the dearest present around the world, in Azerbaijan as well.