2012 Trends in Flower Arrangement and Colour Usage in Indonesia

The global trends for flower arrangement and colour usage seems often dictated by Western countries, however consumers in Indonesia do not always receive these trends with open arms. In general one could say that Indonesian consumers have a fairly conservative taste, changes in local trends are small and do not happen overnight.

Locally trends in floriculture designs are very much influenced by the style of wedding decorations. Flower consumption for weddings is the largest market within cut floriculture industry. There is no denying that the people of Indonesia have a tendency to spend big on wedding decoration. Changes in the usage of wedding decorations and in the wedding industry in general will determine the overall trends within flower arrangements and preferred flower colour.

Flower arrangements:
Regarding the type of flower, especially for wedding decorations, the trend will be to use dense products with a lot of flowers; some decoration there will even be an absence of leaves at all. The decorations appear full almost crowded, with sometimes only one or two types of flowers. Flowers – are often cut very short and plugged very tightly into the arrangement. Clearly, this style is influenced by Maestro decorator "Preston Bailey" who also has representative offices in Indonesia. One of his decorations is pictured below (picture taken from the official website of Preston Bailey).

Decoration work of "Preston Bailey" with the dominant colour lighting blue

This trend of using short cut products is very beneficial for flower growers / producers because they do no longer need to bother planting commodities with long stalks, and they only need to concentrate on the amount of flowers produced. The seize of the flowers is much more important than the length of the stem.

Flower colour:

For many years the consumer choice of flower decoration colours did not change – feminine and graceful pastel colours were in demand: pink (pink), salmon (peach), light yellow, light green, "Broken White" etc. For 2012, the preferred colour of flowers for wedding decorations and flower arrangements will be expected to be blue (and derivative colours like: turquoise, azure, baby blue, navy blue, cobalt blue, iris, midnight blue, tiffany blue, etc.), purple (and all its derivative colours leading to blue: violet, lavender) and grey. These colours are not just used in flower arrangements but also in wedding decorations in general; in the usage of lighting, bridal bouquet, wall dressings, other fashion accessories, etc..

The new colours are certainly very attractive, however it will not be very profitable for the flower growers / producers, as not many blue-ish or purple-ish flowers are available in the market. Scarcity of flowers with the right colour might be solved by combining them with a few other colours like white, fuchsia, pink, yellow and green. As an accent colour, silver will get a quite important role.

Based on the above colour trend, the demand for some species with the right colour is expected to increase. For example:

• Purple flowers - Rose (cool water, aqua, purple cezzane, Delilah, Daniel Ost, Silver Stone, Ocean Song, etc.), Brasika purple, Agaphanthus, Blue delphiniums
• Static blue / purple flowers - Liatris, blue hyacinthus , Hortensia blue and purple, Dendrobium "Miss Singapore", Blue Vanda, Mokara Purple, purple Lisianthus, Tulip purple, etc.
• Grey flowers and leafs - Silver dollars, Cineraria, Brunia albiflora, etc.
  
  

Flower species:
The taste of consumers in Indonesia for certain flowers has not changed much in the last years. There is a strong preference for elegant, luxurious and romantic flowers. Most local tropical flowers do not fit with this preference, however there are still a few local products that could be produced and that are in accordance with the above described trend.

The 10 flower species (local and imported) that are predicted to dominate the flower market in Indonesia are, according to order:
1. Peony
2. Rose "David Austin"
3. Rose (standard and spray rose)
4. Cymbidium
5. Tulip
6. Hydrangea
7. Lily
8. Calla lily
9. Phalaenopsis
10. Brasica

Local flowers vs. imported flowers
Indonesian public awareness of the importance of supporting the use of local flower products has actually been much better than a few years ago. There have been activities and efforts to make local flower products more popular. Unfortunately the awareness will only increase and not reverse when enough strong local products are produced. Some flower species that are predicted to flood the market from other countries, can actually be planted and will grow well in Indonesia, like cymbidium, blue hydrangea, calla lily and brasica. Currently the uncertainty of production capacity, quality control and the continuity of the supply of these products often make the wedding decorators prefer to order imported flowers instead of local flowers.

(Written by: Andy Djati Utomo, S.Sn., AIFD., CFD - International Floral Designer)