KOCHI: Lekshmi and her kin have been selling flowers at Palarivattom for the past 30 years. “Every Onam, we set up a small stall at the junction. The past years had seen good business. This year, it is not as rosy,” says the 50-year-old hailing from Batalgundu in Tamil Nadu.
“We were hopeful that this year’s Onam will see a big celebration as the past five were mired in one calamity or the other. Sadly, that’s not the case, yet.”This lull in business is despite flowers going for relatively lesser rates than last year, says Vimala, who runs another stall near Palarivattom.
“Though flowers come from Coimbatore, the business has long been taken up by big, local units; at the expense of small vendors like us,” she says. The sweltering heat, too, has turned villain. “It’s too hot to man these stalls now. They will only open in the evening,” says Thrikkakara-based Arya, who’s been selling homemade ‘Onathappan’ here for many years. Indeed, TNIE saw flowers bound in sacks stored in nearby shops, under bus shelters, and in ice boxes.
Big, local units take reins
The biggest flower stall in Kochi set up near Town Hall, is run by a five-family group from Ottappalam. Sudarshan, its owner, says that business has picked up since Wednesday.“The flowers come from Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, Gundlupete in Karnataka, and Bengaluru. It’s all unloaded at Ernakulam North,” he says. This mammoth enterprise has also posed a challenge to Pookkaran Mukku, the erstwhile flower market of Kochi. Now, the place is scant, save for three stalls.
“We have reduced our orders as the competition is very stiff,” says Sajeev, owner of Mallaya Flower Mart.
Ernakulam North and Kacheripady are the go-to flower markets for Kochiities. The new stalls set up here capitalise on this familiarity among the public. Palaniamma, who’s been selling flowers here for the past 30 years, is one of a handful still resisting the big players.
“Our families come in big groups and set up multiple stalls in the area to make it appear like a ‘flower market’. This is our marketing technique,” she says. The reality on the ground is that most flower vendors are struggling, especially those without stalls, but as Onam draws near, they are hopeful that businesses will bloom.