Roses, chocolates, teddies: Commerce weds love ahead of Valentine’s Day

Kolkata: There has been a sharp surge in the sale of flowers, gifts, soft toys, cakes and chocolates during the ongoing Valentine's Week celebrations that kicked off last Saturday. Popular food outlets across the city have receiving heavy pre-bookings for V-Day lunch and dinner. According to Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations president Sushil Poddar, this Valentine's week could generate business of Rs 800 crore. This includes jewellery sales as well.

"Nowadays, many couples gift jewellery to each other to celebrate this occasion. This year, Valentine's Day market is witnessing uptick in sales. About 40% of this business is coming from chocolates and cakes segment while 20% business is from rose sales. The rest of the business is from sales of gifts," Poddar told TOI.


The demand surge for roses saw price shoot up by 100-150%. On Rose Day (last Saturday), a red rose sold between Rs 50 and 100 across the city. Traders said the price of roses, particularly the Bangalore variety red one, turned dear since last Friday. "It will be much higher from the day before Valentine's Day and may go beyond Rs 100per piece normally sold between Rs 30 and 50," said Subrata Jana, a flower seller of New Market.

On Wednesday, Ashok Samanta, selling flowers at Mullickghat for the last 30 years, said, "There is huge demand for the Bangalore rose variety available in various colours. Today I sold each flower for Rs 50. It is likely that the price will go up further on Friday. But the skyrocketing price is not affecting sales."

"On Rose Day, I was shocked by the high price of red roses and plan to buy in advance before V-Day," said Vihaan Mukherjee, a management student. "Even the local supply of ‘mainauperle' roses will touch Rs 50 on V-Day," said Mehboob Mondal, a flower seller of Lake Market.

On Monday, Chocolate Day, small pan-cigarette and stationery shopkeepers in the city also saw chocolates flying off the shelves. Sales of soft toys in varying sizes were in high demand at Gariahat, New Market and Hatibagan markets on Teddy Day that fell on Tuesday. Sreyasi Nandi, a student who came to Lindsay Street to buy a teddy bear with her boyfriend Romit Sen, a central govt employee, said, "Last year on Teddy Day our relationship grew, so today is very special for me."

The idea of celebrating Valentine's Week flourished in the city in the post-Covid years. "During our college life, even till late 90s' V-Day for Bengalis was on Saraswati Puja," recalled Sougata Mukherjee (53), a businessman. The change began in the early 21st century when greeting card companies started promoting a week of love, encouraging people to show love not just on one day but throughout the week.

Across Bengal, the demand is nearly 10 million roses during the week. Roses are being kept in cold storageto meet the requirement. Growers said there were no significant obstacles in rose cultivation this year, resulting in a good yield. The state's only govt flower cold storage at Panskura, closed for a long time, is being used for storing roses. Roses are cultivated at Ghatal, Daspur, Chandrakona, Debra, Kharagpur, and Jakpur in West Midnapore district, and at Panskura, Gosaibari, Sauraberi, Kolaghat, Kanyadihi, Baksitla, Parnank, and Hatisol in East Midnapore district.

Narayan Chandra Nayak, general decretary of the All Bengal Flower Growers and Flower Traders Association, said, "Till a few years ago, the roses produced in this state met the demand. Currently, roses from Bangalore and Pune have captured a significant portion of the market."

(With inputs from Sujoy Khanra & Sayantan Chakraborti)