Published January 3, 2009

People still need their CNY luck, no matter what

By KEITH CHEE

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RECESSION may have cast a shadow over the coming Chinese New Year, but people still need their luck.

BOUNTIFUL Pots of four-season lime at Far East Flora. The common view among nurseries is that plants are auspicious and they do not cost much

Nurseries approached by The Business Times reckon the economic downturn will not affect sales of hampers and plants, as people will be looking to usher in the new year auspiciously.

Nurseries here suffered a severe drop in CNY takings during the Sars scare in 2003, which came on the back of the aftershock of the 1998 Asian financial crisis. Some nurseries reported up to a 50 per cent drop in takings then.

But they can take heart from recent news that even with greatly reduced retail spending, live Christmas trees were snapped up this festive season, despite higher prices due to increased demand and a tree shortage.

'Everyone still wants to celebrate,' even though they may have had a bad year, says Sharon Goh, director of Candy Floriculture.

Sinflora, the largest importer of Chinese New Year plants, shares this view. Its executive director Charlotte Lee is optimistic, saying CNY takes place only once a year. Plants are auspicious and they do not cost much, she points out.

Backing up its belief in an auspicious and profitable CNY, Sinflora has rented an additional 14,000 sq m of space and has decided to bring in the same amount of stock as last year.

Another nursery with a positive outlook is Prince's Flower Shop. Mayen, a customer service manager there, said she does not believe the recession will hurt sales.

As a precaution, though, the company is spending more on advertising and marketing. And it released its catalogue earlier than usual to give customers more time to mull over purchases. Already, orders for CNY products are flowing in.

But some nurseries are not quite so optimistic. Far East Flora, one of the biggest on the island, thinks sales could drop 10-15 per cent. It has shifted its focus more from Christmas to CNY, and released its catalogue two weeks earlier than usual.

'Also, we've made our price points more affordable and introduced a larger product range to cater to a wider range of customers,' said Sarah Yong, senior manager at FarEastFlora.com. But the company is not bringing in less stock than last year.

The common view among nurseries, however they see things, is that people will always want to buy luck, even during an economic slowdown. And that is what their products aim to provide.

Sinflora's Ms Lee summed it up: 'People will still need auspicious products and items for the new year - and they do not cost much.'