THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARKET FOR CUT FLOWERS AND POT-PLANTS IN WESTERN EUROPE

The consumption of cut flowers and pot-plants in Western Europe has risen over the past few years to an extent matched by few of the other products of horticulture and agriculture. Thus, in the period 1961–1966 for the countries for which the appropriate values can be calculated, growth rates of 35–40% were attained and in one country where consumption was initially low it even reached 96% (see table below).

Table 1 - Growth of consumption of cut flowers and pot-plants and of expenditure on personal consumption*

Consumption per capita US $

Growth 1961–1966 (1961=100)

	1961	1966	Consumption per capita	Personal expenditure
West Germany	6.20	8.32	134	135
France	-	4.15	-	-
Italy	2.38	3.28	138	146
Netherlands	4.95	6.89	139	170
Denmark	10.08	13.72	136	161
Austria	1.96	2.87	196	148
Switzerland	3.96	-	-	-
Sweden	-	8.80	-	-
U.K.	-	2.55	-	-

* present-day prices

If we calculate from these growth rates and the rise in personal expenditure the income elasticities for flowers and pot-plants in the countries given, we obtain values of 0.7 to 1.

A search of the agricultural statistics for data on the earlier growth in the production and sale of flowers and pot-plants, or even on the present importance of this product group, reveals that it seldom rates a mention in the international statistics and is treated rather cavalierly in the national statistics, as compared with other sectors of equal importance.

The Institut für Gärtnerische Betriebslehre und Marktforschung, Technical University of Hanover, in collaboration with the International Association of Professional Horticulturalists (AIPH) has been trying for some time to collect and collate official national statistics and to compile other information so as to obtain a reliable picture of the growth of production, marketing and consumption of flowers and pot-plants in Western Europe.

We report here on our investigations in the field of marketing and its growth. We have based our conclusions on facts and figures obtained from central marketing facilities such as wholesale flower markets,