While we all think about our loved ones on Valentine's day and run around town buying flowers, we seem to be oblivious to the process of how the flowers get to us. Well, I have put together a little story, thanks to Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution, on how the rose gets to a handsome young man in Chicago. You can put yourself in his place and think about how the flower gets to you in your city.
It is February 14th in Chicago and a handsome young man walks into the store to buy roses. As you may be aware, the weather has been brutal in the last few months in the Midwest and not ideal for growing roses. Do the local nurseries grow all of the roses sold in the windy city? Can they meet the demand in a city of about 3 million people? If not, where do the roses come from that our handsome young man buys for his beloved?
In the United States, for example, about 180 million roses are sold on Valentine’s day! Most of these roses are grown in Ecuador and Kenya. The roses are cut and flown to a small town named Aalsmeer in Holland. These roses are then sold in an auction where the price start off high and steadily fall until someone buys them.
Once bought the flowers are flown to wholesalers in the U.S. who then sell them to thousands of florists. This is where you come in. With a smile you walk in tall and buy a dozen roses which you later proffer to your valentine. Happy Valentine’s day!
It is February 14th in Chicago and a handsome young man walks into the store to buy roses. As you may be aware, the weather has been brutal in the last few months in the Midwest and not ideal for growing roses. Do the local nurseries grow all of the roses sold in the windy city? Can they meet the demand in a city of about 3 million people? If not, where do the roses come from that our handsome young man buys for his beloved?
In the United States, for example, about 180 million roses are sold on Valentine’s day! Most of these roses are grown in Ecuador and Kenya. The roses are cut and flown to a small town named Aalsmeer in Holland. These roses are then sold in an auction where the price start off high and steadily fall until someone buys them.
Once bought the flowers are flown to wholesalers in the U.S. who then sell them to thousands of florists. This is where you come in. With a smile you walk in tall and buy a dozen roses which you later proffer to your valentine. Happy Valentine’s day!
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