Buds, blooms and beyond

Flower business opens new avenue

The Bangla Academy campus had turned into an oasis of colours and scents for three days in the last week.

The three-day Flower Fest 2017 gave flower traders the opportunity to show off their creations. They exhibited their flowers in stalls, where visitors could see and buy those.
“Festivals like these give us the opportunity to reach out to many people in a short time,” said Md Abdur Rashid, proprietor of Mayer Doa Flower Garden.
Rashid cultivates and sells different types of flowers including tuberose, gladiola, and orchids. “These are cultivated in my garden in Jessore. I usually sell these through my outlet in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar,” he said, proudly showing his produce.
Dr Papia Jubair Rahman bought orchids from his store on Friday. “The flowers are fresh and colourful. I grow flowers in my balcony. So, I know a good flower from a bad one. I think these flowers are of export quality,” she said.
Many people visited the Flower Fest over the weekend. 
Gary and Heather Brocket, a couple from New Zealand, said they were quite impressed with the collections. “I have a generator business in Bangladesh and have been living here for two years. I can say that the flowers are very beautiful. I especially love the marigolds,” said Heather.
 
Blooming business
Shah Alam, the proprietor of SA Flowers, has been running his business from two outlets in Banani and Shahbagh for five years. He mainly cultivates roses on a four-bigha plot in Savar.
Shah Alam holds a BBA degree from a private university. “When I graduated six years ago, I looked for a decent job like many others. But I failed to get a job. Then a friend of mine advised me start a flower business,” he recalled.
“Savar is one of the largest places for commercial flower production, as the soil there is suitable for cultivating flowers. I borrowed around Tk. 10 lakh from my family and friends and prepared my land for rose cultivation,” he narrated.
It cost him around Tk. 8 lakh to prepare the land and buy seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. “Now, I earn around Tk. 3 lakh per year by selling roses. I hope to earn Tk. 30 lakh,” he said.
He said one of the main problems of running a flower business in Dhaka city is the lack of a dedicated quality market. “People also have misconceptions about flower traders. I am a business graduate, but people think I am just a petty flower seller. I think people need to change that mindset. I am making an honest living here by selling flowers,” he added.
Kamal Ahmed runs a business of decorative plants. Many people were found admiring his unique collection of decorative plants at his stall Greenshops.
“I have cultivated all these plants in my garden in Savar. My main products are different types of money-plant, spider-plant and cactus,” said Ahmed.
He also said people want aesthetic vases with decorative plants. “We have come up with beautiful and innovative vases to go with our plants. We design these vases and get them created at ceramic factories,” he added.
Pijush Majumder, the managing partner of Colours Event Management, said their stall had attracted a lot of people. “Our main attraction is the collection of gerbera daisies. We cultivate these in our gardens in Jessore. We have our showrooms in Agargaon,” he added.
Majumder said that previously, gerbera daisies would be brought from India and Thailand. Retailers used to buy these for Tk. 15 per piece from the wholesalers and sell these for Tk. 30 per piece. “Now, we are selling gerbera daisies for Tk. 5 per piece,” he added.
Colour Event Management supplies flowers to different programmes. “We supply flowers to weddings, cultural programmes, seminars and other functions. Our prices range between Tk. 5,000 and Tk. 500,000,” Majumder said.
 
Budding ideas
 Asruf Ul Jubair, the business development manager of Deshifool.com, was one of the co-organisers and sponsors of the Flower Fest. He told The Independent that the flower business in Bangladesh is worth about Tk. 1,000 crore.
“With increased purchase capacity and consumption power, people have developed an interest in flowers. There is a huge potential in the flower business, which is still not being tapped properly. We are trying to do that,” he said.
Explaining the idea behind Deshifool.com, Jubair said that it is a digital flower delivery service. “We have made contracts with around 30 large and medium flower shops. On our website and Facebook page, we display different types of flowers as well as bouquets. If a customer places an order, we deliver the flower to his or her home,” he elaborated.
Deshifool.com was launched last year. Since then, they have got good response from people. “In Dhaka, it has become very hard for people to move around because of traffic jams. So, we want to deliver fresh flowers at their door,” he said.
Jubair also said they have launched another innovative flower service on Deshifool.com this year. “We have started the first flower subscription service in the country. If you subscribe to it, we will deliver a certain number of flowers to your house on a regular basis,” he explained.
He said that as of now, they have started two packages: Silver Shine and Goldie Lock. Under Silver Shine, Deshifool.com will send four flower boxes or bouquets per month at a cost of Tk. 800. Under Goldie Lock, they will send eight flower boxes or bouquets for Tk. 1,500.
“We want to come up with more innovative plans in the near future,” he added.
 
Petals and thorns
 The assistant general secretary of Dhaka Flower Traders’ Kallayan Bohumukhi Somobay Samity, Swapon Roy, said flowers worth Tk. 50 lakh, on average, are being sold every day.
In winter, the business becomes easier as the flowers remain fresh all day. At least 35 types of flowers are available in this season. In summer, only a few types lead the market.
The most sought-after flowers in the country are tuberose, roses, gladiola, marigold and gerbera daisy.
Currently, more than 25,000 families are engaged in cultivating flowers and 200,000 people are directly and indirectly dependent on this sector.
 “We get many export orders. But owing to complexities at the airport and customs, we are not encouraged to export flowers,” said Roy.
He said that Bangladesh’s stake in the global flower trade is a negligible 0.3 per cent. “We have good potential in the production of cut flowers due to favourable environment and fertile land,” he added.
Roy said for better export performance, they need infrastructure support. A good cooling system should be available at the airports. The flowers should be kept at a certain temperature throughout the flight to maintain their freshness.
Besides, research should be conducted on developing high-quality flowers. Farmers should be provided with technologies and bank loans, he said.

 

Buds, blooms and beyond

Flower business opens new avenue

The Bangla Academy campus had turned into an oasis of colours and scents for three days in the last week. The three-day Flower Fest 2017 gave flower traders the opportunity to show off their creations. They exhibited their flowers in stalls, where visitors could see and buy those. Festivals like these give us the opportunity to reach out to many people in a short time, said Md Abdur Rashid, proprietor of Mayer Doa Flower Garden. Rashid cultivates and sells different types of flowers including tuberose, gladiola, and orchids. These are cultivated in my garden in Jessore. I usually sell these through my outlet in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, he said, proudly showing his produce. Dr Papia Jubair Rahman bought orchids from his store on Friday. The flowers are fresh and colourful. I grow flowers in my balcony. So, I know a good flower from a bad one. I think these flowers are of export quality, she said. Many people visited the Flower Fest over the weekend. Gary and Heather Brocket, a couple from New Zealand, said they were quite impressed with the collections. I have a generator business in Bangladesh and have been living here for two years. I can say that the flowers are very beautiful. I especially love the marigolds, said Heather. Blooming business Shah Alam, the proprietor of SA Flowers, has been running his business from two outlets in Banani and Shahbagh for five years. He mainly cultivates roses on a four-bigha plot in Savar. Shah Alam holds a BBA degree from a private university. When I graduated six years ago, I looked for a decent job like many others. But I failed to get a job. Then a friend of mine advised me start a flower business, he recalled. Savar is one of the largest places for commercial flower production, as the soil there is suitable for cultivating flowers. I borrowed around Tk. 10 lakh from my family and friends and prepared my land for rose cultivation, he narrated. It cost him around Tk. 8 lakh to prepare the land and buy seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. Now, I earn around Tk. 3 lakh per year by selling roses. I hope to earn Tk. 30 lakh, he said. He said one of the main problems of running a flower business in Dhaka city is the lack of a dedicated quality market. People also have misconceptions about flower traders. I am a business graduate, but people think I am just a petty flower seller. I think people need to change that mindset. I am making an honest living here by selling flowers, he added. Kamal Ahmed runs a business of decorative plants. Many people were found admiring his unique collection of decorative plants at his stall Greenshops. I have cultivated all these plants in my garden in Savar. My main products are different types of money-plant, spider-plant and cactus, said Ahmed. He also said people want aesthetic vases with decorative plants. We have come up with beautiful and innovative vases to go with our plants. We design these vases and get them created at ceramic factories, he added. Pijush Majumder, the managing partner of Colours Event Management, said their stall had attracted a lot of people. Our main attraction is the collection of gerbera daisies. We cultivate these in our gardens in Jessore. We have our showrooms in Agargaon, he added. Majumder said that previously, gerbera daisies would be brought from India and Thailand. Retailers used to buy these for Tk. 15 per piece from the wholesalers and sell these for Tk. 30 per piece. Now, we are selling gerbera daisies for Tk. 5 per piece, he added. Colour Event Management supplies flowers to different programmes. We supply flowers to weddings, cultural programmes, seminars and other functions. Our prices range between Tk. 5,000 and Tk. 500,000, Majumder said. Budding ideas Asruf Ul Jubair, the business development manager of Deshifool.com, was one of the co-organisers and sponsors of the Flower Fest. He told The Independent that the flower business in Bangladesh is worth about Tk. 1,000 crore. With increased purchase capacity and consumption power, people have developed an interest in flowers. There is a huge potential in the flower business, which is still not being tapped properly. We are trying to do that, he said. Explaining the idea behind Deshifool.com, Jubair said that it is a digital flower delivery service. We have made contracts with around 30 large and medium flower shops. On our website and Facebook page, we display different types of flowers as well as bouquets. If a customer places an order, we deliver the flower to his or her home, he elaborated. Deshifool.com was launched last year. Since then, they have got good response from people. In Dhaka, it has become very hard for people to move around because of traffic jams. So, we want to deliver fresh flowers at their door, he said. Jubair also said they have launched another innovative flower service on Deshifool.com this year. We have started the first flower subscription service in the country. If you subscribe to it, we will deliver a certain number of flowers to your house on a regular basis, he explained. He said that as of now, they have started two packages: Silver Shine and Goldie Lock. Under Silver Shine, Deshifool.com will send four flower boxes or bouquets per month at a cost of Tk. 800. Under Goldie Lock, they will send eight flower boxes or bouquets for Tk. 1,500. We want to come up with more innovative plans in the near future, he added. Petals and thorns The assistant general secretary of Dhaka Flower Traders Kallayan Bohumukhi Somobay Samity, Swapon Roy, said flowers worth Tk. 50 lakh, on average, are being sold every day. In winter, the business becomes easier as the flowers remain fresh all day. At least 35 types of flowers are available in this season. In summer, only a few types lead the market. The most sought-after flowers in the country are tuberose, roses, gladiola, marigold and gerbera daisy. Currently, more than 25,000 families are engaged in cultivating flowers and 200,000 people are directly and indirectly dependent on this sector. We get many export orders. But owing to complexities at the airport and customs, we are not encouraged to export flowers, said Roy. He said that Bangladeshs stake in the global flower trade is a negligible 0.3 per cent. We have good potential in the production of cut flowers due to favourable environment and fertile land, he added. Roy said for better export performance, they need infrastructure support. A good cooling system should be available at the airports. The flowers should be kept at a certain temperature throughout the flight to maintain their freshness. Besides, research should be conducted on developing high-quality flowers. Farmers should be provided with technologies and bank loans, he said.