Supermarket giants Asda sparked a Valentine’s Day price war with its remarkably low offer for a dozen red roses at just £2.
However the deal has forced accusations about the exploitation of workers with the roses being supplied from farms in Kenya, East Africa, as well as the planet’s resources .
The grocery company says it can offer the flowers at such a low price because of its long-term partnership with the grower, a deal which enables them to pre-order the roses a year ago guaranteeing them a profit over a 12-month period.
Asda is massively undercutting its competitors as the usual cost for a dozen of the finest Grand Prix roses, from an upmarket independent florist, costs around £100, fifty times more than Asda’s offer .
The roses are brought in from suppliers in Kenya’s flower-growing area surrounding Lake Naivasha, which are then flown 3,600 miles to the UK .
But criticism has come due to the fact that the low prices are, at least partly, driven by poor wages and conditions for workers in Kenya, including children .
Environmental experts have added to this by saying the voracious demand for red roses for Valentine’s Day is causing a dangerous fallout for the planet.
David Harper, ecologist at Leicester University, claims the trade is devastating the area. “The lake is being destroyed at an alarming rate by the sheer pressure of people on it,” he said.
A spokesman for Asda denied that they were exploiting the workforce. “All our growers are members of ethical trading schemes which insist on good working conditions and pay,” he said.
He added that staff in Kenya were getting paid £30 a month for working 40-hour weekly shifts, and compared the figure to the £20 a month a housekeeper receives in Nairobi, the capital or £10 a month for a gardener.
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