Tulip prices in Hesse are exploding: Why flowers are so expensive!

Spring is just around the corner and with it the colorful bouquets of tulips, but the prices for these popular flowers in Hesse are rising sharply. Current reports show that the price increases are mainly due to a poor harvest and increased production costs.

According to a report by hessenschau.de the price for a bouquet of tulips has increased to around 46 euros. In comparison, the same bouquet last year only cost 7.90 euros. In addition, florists like Anita Kos report an average price increase of 30 percent since last year, which poses challenges for many customers. A third less supply of tulips, as Frankfurt flower wholesaler Joachim Dietz notes, also influences prices.

Causes of the price increases

The reasons for the high prices are varied. The tulips mainly come from the Netherlands, where weather-related conditions such as rain and frost have negatively affected the harvests. This meant that only 70 to 80 percent of the usual amount of tulips could be harvested. In the last two years, harvests have been particularly poor, driving up flower prices, like investmentweek.com reported.

The situation is further exacerbated by high electricity and gasoline costs. Supermarkets like Rewe have similar challenges and offer tulip bouquets at prices of up to 4.79 euros. However, the number of flowers per bunch varies, and many retailers do not pass on all of their increased purchase prices to customers.

The tulips are usually available from mid-January to July and are very popular. However, the quality of flowers has recently declined while prices have increased by 30 to 50 percent. Nevertheless, Germany remains the largest sales market for tulips produced in the Netherlands, with around ten billion tulips being exported every year.