Mother’s Day, Italians choose flowers as a gift

Don't know what to give your mothers? Flowers are the most chosen gift

ROME – Mother’s Day is celebrated in Italy on May 12th. The little ones will certainly bring a ‘job’ done to school, but what will the older ones and adults give to their beloved mothers? Almost six out of 10 Italians (57%) have chosen to give plants and flowers as gifts for Mother’s Day, with the floral gift being by far the most popular. This is what emerges from an online survey carried out on the website www.coldiretti.it on the occasion of the anniversary dedicated to all mothers. The “green” gift largely precedes clothing (8%), jewelery (6%) and sweets (3%), but there is also 26% who do not give gifts.

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The most trendy floral varieties this year are – explains Coldiretti – delphinium, calla lilies, roses, ranunculus, carnations, gerberas, together with the dimorphoteca. “The advice is to buy flowers and plants of national origin, even directly from the producer or in farmers’ markets – says Coldiretti – to be sure of putting a 100% Italian product in the vase, which supports the territories and respects the environment and the employment, unlike foreign ones, often cultivated by exploiting child labor, as in the case of Kenyan roses”.

Imports from abroad reached a value of almost 900 million euros in 2023, up 26% compared to the previous year, according to Coldiretti analysis on Istat data. The problem also concerns triangulations through the Netherlands which imports flowers from non-EU countries to resell them on the EU market. As much as 2/3 of imports of flowers and plants in value arrive in Italy from the Netherlands, although there have been direct shipments from Ethiopia, Colombia, Kenya or Thailand. A real invasion that risks cornering the over 17 thousand Italian horticultural companies that manage 45 thousand hectares of territory. In danger – concludes Coldiretti – there is a key sector of Made in Italy which is worth 3.1 billion euros and guarantees work for 200 thousand people.