According to flower farms in the region, end-of-year or early-year reorganization period for government offices used to be one of the busiest times of year for the flower industry. Congratulatory events and funerals account for 85 percent of total flower consumption with the former taking the bigger chunk of that.
With Korea’s new Kim Young-ran anti-graft law forbidding public servants from accepting gifts exceeding 50,000 won, the flower industry has been taking a big hit.
According to Korea Biz Wire
“In any other year, I would have received piles of flower pots and bouquets that I wouldn’t know what to do with,” said a government employee who had just been promoted. “But this year, things are very different with the anti-graft law, on top of the current state of affairs. I did get a lot of text messages from friends and family, though.”
The bigger problem for flower businesses is that this social change is not limited to government offices.
Busan Bank, for instance, saw an 80 percent decline in flower delivery to its offices, despite the promotion of over 100 of its high-level employees. Although the bank has been discouraging the giving of flowers since last year, the change was particularly noticeable this year, officials said.
“(The flower industry) is suffering the most compared to other industries from the introduction of anti-graft law,” said an official from a Busan-South Gyeongsang floriculture cooperative. “We have near-zero demand for flowers for the year-end and New Year’s, and our sales dropped by more than half.”
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