Australia Imported 5.22 Million Kenyan Roses In February

The Valentine Day is the day of roses and Kenya has put all the effort to make a rose reach the loved ones of someone in Australia.

The Federal Department of Agriculture data reveals 5.22 million rose stems were imported from Kenya since the beginning of February this year.

The figure last year in the same time period was just 850,000 roses.

This is also a record for the Kenyan roses traded this year in Australia.

The local supply in Australia is unable to meet the demand during Valentine Day and so in total more than 9 million rose stems were imported and most of those from Kenya.

A flower shop own Jasmin McFadden in remote Jimberley region of Western Australia showed surprise after learning the roses she is selling have come from Kenya.

McFadden said, “It’s quite amazing. It’s a very long fight, without water too.”

Kenya is one of the biggest exporters of roses in the world and the floriculture industry of the country earned 62.9 billion shillings in 2015, said Kenya Flower Council (KFC).

According to the KFC website more than 100,000 Kenyans are employed in flower farms across the country and are also on the verge of expanding further over the period of next five years.

Very recently Kenya Airways Cargo (KQ Cargo) partnered with QANTAS to send flowers to Australia and the capacity revealed through press release is exporting 30 tonnes every month.

KQ Cargo said under the new deal the airline is uplifting flowers via Johannesburg into Sydney and Melbourne.