How many (million) proteas South Africa exports each year - and where they go
How many (million) proteas South Africa exports each year - and where they go
Proteas are pretty fantastic, and the logistics of getting them from farm to foreign wedding ceremony are fascinating.
I recently learnt how popular South African proteas are abroad - commercially speaking, far more so than in their home country. And so, naturally, I went in search of some numbers and maps to throw into a chart or two that I find quite interesting.
That they’re so popular is hardly surprising. They’re magnificent plants that date back millions of years. They’re named after the son of Poseidon, partly, it’s believed, because they include over 1,500 almost shapeshifting species. And the alien-like plants, with cleverly chosen names like Brushing Bride and Magnifica Pink, make particularly good additions to grand European or American weddings.
You’ll find around 300 of these protea species in South Africa, many growing wild on the country’s mountain slopes. But they’re extremely popular in regions where they aren’t endemic and can’t grow - and as a result, an entire industry has risen out of their local farming and global exports.
Flown around the world
Each year, usually between July and November, millions of proteas make their way from farms to pack sheds. There, they’re boxed as individual stems, then trucked to warehouses, airports, and ultimately flown fresh to their export destinations.
These flowers in transit aren’t treated like second-rate produce, either. Although passengers will never know, most of these millions of proteas head overseas hidden in plain sight in refrigerated compartments, set at precisely four degrees, alongside their luggage in stock-standard commercial airliners.
On arrival, usually only a few hours after being harvested, most proteas go to auction houses, then markets and flower shops. Ultimately, they take up positions in wedding ceremonies, lavish hotel lobbies, or live out the last of their shortened lives in the sporadic sunlight on a Dutch windowsill - just hours after being plucked from South African soil.
The number of proteas exported from South Africa is staggering.
In 2019, South African growers exported just under 7 million protea stems. This took a dip due to Covid-19 the following year. But numbers have continued to soar since - with more than 8.5 million leaving South Africa in passenger plane luggage holds last year.
South African proteas end up in various regions around the world, mostly influenced by the ease and cost of shipping. As fresh products, they require a constant cold chain, so that rules out or makes them rarer (and much pricier) in several destinations, like the Americas.
Only a few remain in Africa, and the Middle East picks up about 6% of our protea exports. The Far East buys about 18% of all exports. Australia, where proteas are also endemic, buy almost none from South Africa.
But the vast majority of South Africa’s exported proteas - 68% - head directly to the flower markets of Europe. There, they’re mostly sold at auction and are popular additions to local weddings and other ceremonial occasions.
Not all proteas are considered equal
Some proteas are significantly more popular than others.
Far and away, the most popular protea variety is Blushing Bride, also known as Pride of Franschhoek. It’s a beautiful flower, but its name is a stroke of marketing genius - with this being the protea to include in wedding ceremonies abroad.
Close behind it is Banksia. This diverse species is native to Australia but is now grown widely in South Africa, and it includes about 170 species of flowering plants.
After these two leading protea varieties, things mostly level out, with such creative names as Cynaroides, Pink Ice, and Barbigera Magnifica Pink making their way overseas in their hundreds of thousands.
For December and January, exports slow to a trickle. But come February, South Africa’s frantic protea world whirs back to life, ready to better the previous year’s records by getting millions of these fascinating flowers to remote corners of the continent.