APIP Agricultural Policy Implementation Project

distinguish it in the market (unlike Morocco which is known for its roses).
Flowers exported by Tunisian growers in the past few years include carnations,
chrysanthemums, gladioli, gypsophila, irises, roses, strelitzia, and statice.
However, relative to other countries the quantities have been very small and
therefore Tunisia is not considered an exporter of flowers.
The important issue for Tunisians is how to enter into large-scale and
profitable production for export. What flowers should growers produce for export
and how can they select among the hundreds of varieties of different flowers?
Many new varieties are introduced each year on the export market. It is
important for growers to monitor trends in demand for certain varieties since
like most commercial products, flower varieties have product life cycles that (in
the case of roses) last approximately ten years. While some of the rose
varieties that are grown in Tunisia are still popular on the French market, many
of the newly popular flowers are not.
Once a grower has determined which varieties are popular in the market, he
or she must ensure that they are suited to the Tunisian environment. Testing is
an important way a grower can help guarantee successful production of a
particular flower in his or her operation. For example, there are many hundreds
of spray carnation varieties purchased by the major flower markets. However,
they tend to be quite sensitive to soil and micro climates which affect their
productivity making it incumbant on the grower to test them on the farm before
going into large-scale production. Growers can then test the market with a
sample of their test production to determine whether or not they are meeting
standards.
One wholesaler at Rungis market in Paris received a test shipment of
strelitzia from Tunisia which he said did not meet the standards of the French
market. He suggested that it would be difficult for Tunisia to sell strelitzia
because of the extremely high quality of production from France and other
countries. Quality is a critical factor in the flower business because the
discounting is heavy on flowers that are slightly less than "extra" or "super"
quality. Practically speaking there is no secondary market for medium or poor
quality flowers because they simply cannot be sold. Therefore, quality is of
ulmost importance and there is no market "niche" for low-cost, low-quality
flowers. How yield, price and cost factors affect the profitability of
operations producing quality flowers is illustrated by the enterprise budgets.
4.1 Enterprise Budqets for Roses, Carnations, and Gladiola
In order to analyze the costs and returns of cut flower export production,
enterprise budgets30 for roses, carnations and gladioli were prepared based on
interviews with growers, cost estimates obtained from unpublished production
guidelines and private sector operators, and price information gathered in the
Rungis market in Paris. A summary of the results of the analysis shown in
Exhibit 4.1 reveals that cut flower production for export can be potentially very
30 A detailed explanation of assumptions used to calculate production/revenue
and costs are given in Annex 2.
29