Price hikes in commodities cast shadow over Italy's horti recovery

According to the figures, the 2020 value of Italian cut flower, potted plant and nursery stock production is € 2.65 billion. This number is 4.8 per cent of production at basic price of Italian agriculture. Explanatory note: the Italian statistics office does no provide figures on ornamental horticulture only, and on we have it on good authority that no one in Italy has the correct figures. Each organisation or institution will provide different figures. Industry professionals reckon the 2020  Myplant estimates are rather high.

In comparison to previous years, this shows an aggregate contraction of 2.4 per cent (€66 million less than in 201.9 For ornamental horticulture, that drop translates for cut flowers and  plants shrinking by three per cent, shrubs and trees by 1.9 per cent. Explanatory note: industry professionals tend to think the contraction has been much more significant.

There was a significant economic impact in March and April 2020 when the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic. The closing of distribution and retail channels in the horticulture industry, the destruction of significant amounts of perishable goods - around 60 per cent of cut flowers, for instance - the restrictions concerning events and ceremonies have all contributed to the sector's contraction.

Italy's wedding and event industry was a sector where the pain was felt deepest. At the FCI AIPH Global Wedding Flowers webinar in October 2021, Simona Polli, the chief editor of White Sposa, the Italian wedding magazine, spoke about how 90 per cent of weddings had to postpone in 2020, with many couples rebooking or planning their mariage ceremony in 2022.

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Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

Source: AIPH