If you've tried to buy flowers recently and thought the price was a bit steep, you're not wrong.
Florists say a shortage of blooms is behind the big increases and they're being squeezed out of the market by competition from larger retailers like supermarkets.
Owner of Hansen's Floristry Syd Hansen has been arranging and selling flowers for more than 40 years.
“It’s been my passion, my life’s work," Hansen says.
“Immediately post lockdown, it was like a 100% increase on some lines which have now been exceeded.”
The price of chrysanthemums at auction went from $12 a bunch to $20 in just a week.
But almost every flower is at a premium.
NZ Bloom managing director David Ballard says Covid was hard on harvesters too.
“During lockdowns, flower growers were prohibited from harvesting their crops. Those growers lost a lot of money in the process and made it difficult for them to continue on.
“We have a definite shortage of domestic supply in the country that's been tightening up with seasonal problems during these winter months,” Ballard says.
Wholesalers like NZ Bloom import flowers for local florists and face price hikes there too.
“Prices now of imports are probably about 60% higher than pre-Covid, just because of airfreight costs.
“As a wholesaler it's certainly limited the range of flowers we can offer our florists.”
Competition on the auction floor is also contributing to the flower shortage.
Large buyers on auction floors such as supermarkets have been “increasingly swooping in and taking entire lines off the floor”, causing small and independent retailers and wholesalers to lose out.
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