Why are Valentine's Day Roses more expensive?

It may be hard to believe but the increase in rose prices around St. Valentine's Day really does have merit. As retail florist we have been confronted through the years by a few customers and members of the media regarding the issue of the increase in rose prices during the week preceding Valentine's Day. Some customers even believe that we are trying to take advantage of them by raising the prices a few days before the Valentine's Day Holiday. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is that rose pricing at Valentine's Day has little to do with the local retail florist or the supply chain. The increase in prices is simply the issue of supply and demand and is an issue with growers and understandably so. The number of commercial rose bushes is the same on February 14th as it is on July 14th. Roses are a long term crop which means that the flowers are produced on established bushes. Growers cannot grow more roses only for February 14th.

What Rose Growers can do is to prune (cut back) the bushes in the late fall so as to maximize production in February. This means that their production in November and December is low and they have two months with substantially less product to sell which results in a higher price when the demand is high.

Why not just plant more rose bushes? The problem is that if the growers were to plant more rose bushes so that there was ample supply on February 14th there would be a glut market the remainder of the year. A glut market would cause the price of roses to increase throughout the year. Commercial growers must maintain a production balance to supply the needs of consumers on a year round basis as well as sufficient stock for Valentine's Day. What this means is that roses are produced for what the market can bear throughout each month of the year without the grower having to through away some of its product. Every stem thrown into the trash must be averaged into the cost of future production in order for a grower to maintain a fair operating margin.

While we are not rose growers, we understand the economics of supply and demand. Check out the price of wine lately. As the number of wine grapes has now out paced the demand for them the price of wine has begun to fall. I recently purchased several cases of a decent red at approximately $2.00 a bottle. Sounds good but it won't work for roses. Roses cannot be bottled and so a glut market generally means the roses hit the trash. We have had glut market specials in our store which offer 2 dozen roses in the summer for $4.95 and end up losing some to the trash can. Roses just aren't in demand on July 14th like they are on February 14th.

I hope this helps, we have not even begun to discuss all the issues surrounding rose production like cold winters, and what happens when the weather turns warm two weeks before Valentine's Day. Next time...