The Real Cost of a Rose

Foreign Correspondent 
Thursday 22 August at 8:00pm on ABC TV and ABC iview

The Real Cost of a Rose

Foreign Correspondent takes you behind the scenes of the global billion-dollar flower trade to reveal the true cost of the flowers you buy. 

A bouquet of flowers is the go-to gift for many special occasions, but the world is paying a high price for out of season blooms, including right here in Australia. This week on Foreign Correspondent, reporter Isabella Higgins travels to the Netherlands, the country at the centre of this trade.   There, the flower industry is grappling with how to tackle the climate crisis and soaring energy costs.   But as the industry struggles to reduce its carbon footprint it's also facing greater competition from low-cost alternatives.   The European flower markets are under pressure from growers in Africa who are producing cheaper flowers that often end up in supermarkets in Australia. Isabella travels to Kenya where the cheap prices we enjoy at the checkout come at the cost of workers who can least afford it.