The cost of a Valentine's
rose - poor Kenyan
workers on £30 a
month
Across Britain romantic couples are often bunches of red roses for Valentine's Day, but we uncover the true sacrifice behind the romance
The flower cutter clasps a Valentine’s Day rose in her scratched hand with a look of disgust. For this mum of two it’s not a romantic symbol of love but a reminder of the grinding toil for which she is paid barely £1 a day.
We will call her Alice. Her real name has to stay secret to protect her job. In her mid-thirties, she is one of thousands of casual workers employed in Naivasha, Kenya, by British flower wholesaler Finlays.
This is the start of the journey for red rose bouquets on sale across Britain and it is far from romantic. In the build-up to the most romantic day of the year Alice says she has to snip 8,000 an hour – more than two per second – in a baking hot polythene tunnel.