Blockages can cause flowers to be missing on All Souls’ Day

The blockade of roads and highways in the country, promoted since Monday (31) by supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), defeated in the last elections, will cause a lack of flowers on All Souls Day, this Wednesday (2). ).

The alert came from Ibraflor (Brazilian Institute of Floriculture), which has 857 members in 16 states of the country, including the main cooperatives and associations of floricultural producers in some regions, and from Mercadão das Flores, the largest permanent flower market in the capital. paulista.

wanted by Sheet, the institutions reveal the concern of flower manufacturers and producers with the supply of products for this All Souls holiday. According to Mercadão, this is the second most important date for the sector, only behind Mother’s Day. Ibraflor, however, claims that it is the fourth main date – behind Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and International Women’s Day.

“There are regions, like the South, that are already affected,” he told Sheet the executive secretary of Ibraflor, Adriana Rosa. The institute represents around 5,000 flower growers across the country.

Already the director of Ibraflor, Roberto Opitz, said that the impact is not greater because part of the sector, already professionalized, anticipated purchases not to face higher prices, at the last minute. “Vases of chrysanthemums and kalanchoe, the most consumed on this date, usually last between four and six weeks,” he said.

However, according to Opitz, many retailers are unsure whether to buy more flowers because they don’t know if the products will arrive on time. “There is an expectation of greater movement in this Finados, due to the fact that the holiday falls in the middle of the week and also because there are no restrictions on visits to cemeteries, as there were in the last two years, due to the pandemic.”

The sector as a whole earned about R$ 11 billion in 2021, including segments such as florists, decoration, landscaping and self-service (supermarkets), according to Ibraflor.

The anti-democratic demonstrations on the roads also afflict retailers in the capital of São Paulo, the largest national market.

“Most of the shopkeepers, who occupy 320 spaces in Mercadão, are harmed”, says Marcella Zanoti, responsible for the marketing area of ​​Mercadão das Flores. “It has already started to lack flower and there will be a financial impact that we still don’t know how to quantify.”

According to Marcella, the supplier retailers are in the interior of São Paulo and in other regions of the country, and are unable to reach the capital because of the demonstrations.

“We are the main outlet for flowers in São Paulo, received daily, and we serve both consumers and florists”, she says. “Tomorrow is one of the most important days for the segment and we had a direct impact on the supply of goods.”

Mercadão das Flores in the capital is next to Ceagesp (Companhia de Entrepostos e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo) in Vila Leopoldina, west of São Paulo. This Tuesday (1st), Ceagesp reported that there was great expectation with the Flower Fair from Monday (31) to Tuesday, due to the Day of the Dead.

“But many trucks were unable to arrive with the products because of roadblocks,” said the head of the economics section of Ceagesp, Thiago de Oliveira, in a statement.

Due to demonstrations by coup plotters on the roads, promoted by supporters of the current president Jair Bolsonaro, Ceagesp reported that there was a 17% drop in the number of vehicles that enter the São Paulo Terminal Warehouse (ETSP) daily.

Because of this, trucks entering the ETSP for loading and unloading will be allowed for 24 hours. The measure is exceptional, since, normally, the cut-off time is at 18:00.