A Good Reason to Not Celebrate Valentine’s Day

The country that skips this celebration so the rest of the world can see the best of one of their products.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, which means people from many nations around the globe are getting ready to celebrate romance and express appreciation and gratitude for the ones they love.?With a large number of gift exchanges and tokens of love, the economic impact of this day is unquestionable.?In America, the retail industry starts lining up Valentine’s Day merchandise and decorations shortly after Christmas in anticipation of high demand and sales of chocolate, candy, stuffed animals, cards, jewelry, flowers, etc.

Speaking of flowers, Valentine’s Day provides an opportunity for that industry to, well, flourish. Americans purchase more than 1.0 billion flowers for Valentine’s Day [1], generating an estimated revenue of $2.3 billion for the celebration [2]. This revenue is shared along a well-organized supply chain comprising greenhouses for nurturing plants, freight (air and ground), packaging, bouquet arrangements, and distribution to retail points.?And one country has figured out the logistics of growing and delivering large volume of flowers to substantially contribute to meet that demand at an affordable cost: Colombia.

Colombia is the second producer of flowers in the world after the Netherlands, but the country supplies most of the flowers sold for Valentine’s Day in the United States.?Here are some numbers about Colombia’s flower industry:

• About 75 of the flowers sold annually in the United States come from Colombia [3].
• In the three weeks preceding Valentine’s Day, an average of 30 cargo planes leaves from Colombia to Miami every day, each one carrying something on the order of one million flowers [4].
• An estimated 20,000 acres of land are dedicated to grow flowers [3].
• The industry generates $1.7 billion of exports per year and employ 130,000 people in the country [3].

And one last curious fact is that Colombians do not celebrate Valentine’s Day!? Yes, despite all that mass production of flowers, February 14 in the country goes as a normal day.?But for full disclosure, I should admit that statement is half true. Better stated, a similar celebration occurs in the country later in the year during the “Day of Love and Friendship” (Día del Amor y la Amistad), which is booked for the third Saturday of September.

It should not be surprising that Colombia’s decision to not celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14 and create a mirror celebration seven months later had economic drivers. In 1969, the commerce and retail industry supported by flower farmers pushed for skipping Valentine’s Day celebration for two main reasons:?Valentine’s Day coincided with the beginning of the school year, and the retail industry was afraid of lower revenues when budgets were already exhausted by school supplies, books, and uniforms. And second, (and the inspiration for this blog) the move avoided a competition between the demand of flowers from overseas (in particular from the United States and Europe) with the local demand.?

September was selected because it was the month without any other celebration like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, or Christmas. By celebrating love and friendship locally later on, the county’s flower industry blossoms twice per year and provides another window for stores to boost sales.?

Now, I am making plans to celebrate this day.?I hope you have a good Valentine’s Day celebrating with your loved ones or significant other.?And, if you buy flowers this week at your local store or supermarket, please look where they are from. Chances are the wrapping will say “Product of Colombia”.?If so, please leave a comment. You know now that someone else in that country is getting another rose in September.

Sources

[1] Author’s estimate from various statistics and readings.

[2] Statista. Total Planned Flower Expenditures on Valentine’s Day in the United States.

[3] Conlon, Michael. The History of Colombian Flower Industry and Its Influence in the United States. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service)

[4] The Seattle Times. Thank Colombia for the Roses you Get or Give on Valentine’s Day.

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