Romance at a premium! Valentine’s roses get pricier

It’s Valentine’s week, and by4.30am, the lanes around Parry’s Corner Flower Bazaar, Koyambedu market, are already buzzing as retailers, florists and city residents weave through stacks of crimson blooms in search of the freshest roses. Gunny sacks spill over with locally grown stems from Hosur and Krishnagiri, bundled in lots of 100 and swiftly counted under dim yellow bulbs. When a customer double-checked a bundle, a vendor laughed, “Count pannunga madam , 100 -ku 100 irukkum !” Nearby, IT professional Shalini, picking up roses for her fiancé, says, “Last year, I paid much less. This time the prices have clearly shot up, but you can’t skip roses on Valentine’s week in Chennai.”

‘NEARLY 2.5 LAKH ROSES REACH CHENNAI DAILY FROM HOSUR & BENGALURU’“Demand has gone up this year, but margins are tight because procurement itself is expensive,” says R Rajasekar, Sri Amman Flowers at Parry’s Corner flower bazaar. He adds, “Trucks start arriving from Hosur and Bengaluru by 2am. On average, four to six mini trucks unload close to 350 boxes a day. Each box carries around 20 to 25 bundles of 20 roses — nearly 2.5 lakh roses reach Chennai markets daily during this week alone.”

At Koyambedu, trader M Suresh of Sree Murugan Flower Mart explains the spike: “Last year, a bundle of 100 red roses was ₹ ₹300 to ₹ ₹900 before V-Day and around ₹1,100 on February 14. This year, it is ₹ ₹1,700 to ₹ ₹1,900 early in the week and may touch ₹2,450 tomorrow. Supply is lower because of unseasonal rains in Hosur and higher transportation costs.”

Retail prices climb even higher. “We are selling a bouquet of 20 premium long-stem roses for ₹900 to ₹1,100,” says Priya Raman, owner of Petals & Blooms in Besant Nagar. “Customers here look for presentation — imported wrapping, baby’s breath fillers and personalised notes. Naturally, the price is higher than wholesale.”