British flower growers are set to enjoy a potential windfall of £50 million from the weakness of sterling against the euro.
UK retailers traditionally buy nearly half their cut flowers in the Netherlands but the unfavourable exchange rate with the euro has meant it is now cheaper to buy at home.
The first home-grown flowers of the year, daffodils and tulips, are now in season.
Tesco has switched a chunk of its cut flower account from the Netherlands to the UK.
Tesco cut flowers technical manager David Fryer said: “Most large British retailers buy their cut flowers from the Netherlands because Dutch growers have the scale of operation that makes it economically viable to buy from them.
“With the current poor exchange rate, that is no longer the case and the big UK flower retailers are taking more blooms from British growers.
“While we have always supported British growers, we are now putting more orders their way, which will result in a potential annual increase of around £10m.
“But if you add all the big UK flower retailers together, that could mean an estimated extra £50m income for British growers.”
Cornwall-based firm Winchester Growers is supplying Tesco with daffodils. The company, which specialises in tulips, daffodils, lilies, dahlias and sunflowers, has already seen a 15 per cent increase in orders in recent weeks.
Winchester commercial director Simon Pearson said: “The falling value of the sterling has been good news and if current demand for tulips and daffodils is anything to go by, this will be a very good season for us.
“But the credit crunch is also having a marked effect on flower buying trends, with shoppers trading down to buy more affordable rather than exotic blooms, so we think this will also help increase demand for UK-grown varieties.”
As the British flower season progresses, Tesco will be buying gladioli, peonies, stocks, bluebells, lilies, sunflowers, Sweet William, and other varieties from UK growers.
Tesco’s UK-grown cut flowers come from 40 core growers based throughout the UK, from Cornwall to Scotland and from Lincolnshire to Northern Ireland.
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