Ecuador’s cut flower export industry takes a big hit from the Covid pandemic

By Gonzalo Solano

A worker harvest roses in a greenhouse near Quito.

Flower growers in Ecuador are trimming back their fields, cutting plants at the root and in some cases tossing out piles of colorful blooms entirely as the pandemic delivers a devastating blow to one of the nation’s biggest export industries.

Demand for the country’s prized flowers has struggled to rebound after plummeting earlier this year – and remains at just 70% the normal rate, according to the Ecuadorian Flower Growers and Exporters Association.

Over 10,000 jobs have been cut and more than $130 million in revenue lost.

“It’s a critical situation,” said Alejandro Martínez, executive president of the association. “The worst blow the Ecuadorian flower industry has ever experienced.”

The setback follows a turbulent 2019 marked by nearly two weeks of deadly social unrest over the elimination of a fuel subsidy that shut down much of the country and led to $45 million in losses for the flower sector.

Ecuador is the world’s biggest producer of roses and prized for its favorable equatorial climate and optimal soil conditions that allow for a bevy of floral varieties. Cut flowers are the nation’s fourth largest non-petroleum export and tallied $400 million in sales last year, according to the Central Bank.

More than half of all revenue is generated during two big holidays: Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Both dates coincided with the onset of lockdowns in various parts of the world that sent sales sliding. Ecuador’s flower growers sold just 40% of what they do typically, according to the flower growers association.

And while neighboring Colombia – the world’s second-largest flower exporter – has managed to recover thanks to steady U.S. and European supermarket sales, Ecuador hasn’t experienced the same good fortune. Its flower sales are highly dependent on large-scale events like weddings and conventions that haven’t yet sprung back.

In response, plantations in Ecuador are taking drastic measures. One large grower, Klaus Grestzer of Ecuagarden, estimates most businesses have thrown out over 50% of their flowers since March. Overall, growing fields have been trimmed back about 17%, according to Martinez. Some companies are trimming flowers to the root so that they don’t blossom for 18 months.

“It seems we are going to get stuck at 70% exportation to the 120 usual destinations,” he said.

Colombia, by contrast, is back up to about 90% of normal export levels, according to the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters. Like Ecuador, the nation saw a severe decline in March and April, months when growers were forced to destroy tons of flowers and turn them into compost. But around Mother’s Day, demand crawled back up and companies went back to work with new biosecurity protocols.

Association President Augusto Solano said despite the hardship, the pandemic has, if anything, amplified appreciation of flowers.

“In Colombia and throughout the world, people have begun valuing the benefits of flowers,” he said. “They give energy, tranquility and help reduce stress.”

Nonetheless, small local vendors are still feeling the pain.

Sonia Raga, 41, owns a flower shop in Bogota and says her sales are down 70%. She hasn’t paid her rent in two months and had to let go of three of her four employees. Though she’s now selling through online platforms, she said the city’s strict lockdown has decimated her business.

The dire situation has forced her to contemplate selling flowers on the street like many of the informal vendors circulating the city.

“I’ve been a flower professional my whole life,” she said. “I have no other economic activity.”
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Credit: Washington Post