Türkiye to send 1.5 mln carnations for Queen’s funeral ceremony

ANTALYA - Demirören News Agency

There has been a significant increase in flower demands from the U.K. following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Turkish firms have said, forecasting a total of 1.5 million carnations to be sent during the funeral ceremonies.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the flower industry in Türkiye started to experience a great intensity, while the demand from the U.K. on the southern province of Antalya increased by 80-90 percent due to the 10-day program prepared for mourning and the funeral.

Since the harvest period in the greenhouses in Antalya starts in November, the firms in the region cannot keep up with the orders due to the lack of products.

The sector, which has recently exported cut flowers to the U.K. with truck journeys lasting for seven or eight days, started to send its shipments by planes daily.

While the firms increased the number of workers by 50 percent and the working hours by two hours, they gave priority to the U.K. on orders. The workers will also work on Sundays for two weeks.

“Currently, there is no cut flower production in Antalya. We are also in a period that the plateau production in [the western province of] Isparta has decreased,” an official said.

Stating that there has been an increase of almost double in cut flower orders with the death of the Queen, he said, “However, we are able to meet half of these orders due to our production gap this period. We expect this activity to continue for about a month.”

Normally 600,000 carnations are sent to the U.K. at this time of year, but following the loss, it is estimated that this figure will reach at least 1.5 million by the time the ceremonies are over, according to the officials.

Noting that cut flower producers in Antalya and Isparta send a significant number of flowers to the Netherlands, an official said their customers there also sent their flowers to the U.K. to mourn the Queen’s death.