More than 50,000 roses ready for delivery. Source: Tomuri and Co. Flowers, Facebook.
It’s the busiest day of the year for florists around the country – Valentine’s Day.
One Māori-owned florist, Auckland-based Tomuri and Co. Flowers, has been working for weeks to prepare a company record of more than 50,000 roses for delivery.
Last year a number of people were left upset and empty-handed after the company failed to deliver 800 roses on time because they weren’t picked up by couriers.
Director Ratahi Tomuri, of Ngapuhi and Tuwharetoa, says he's hired extra staff to ensure all orders are delivered this year.
He says, “This year we’ve got 20 of our own drivers.”
A more diverse range of genders have ordered bouquets including purchases from women to men, women to women and men to men.
In previous years Ratahi stopped taking orders for flowers the night before Valentine's Day. But to meet the demand he extended the deadline to midday today so people didn't miss out.
Blush Bae is Tomuri and Co's most popular order today. Source: Tomuri and Co. Flowers
He says the most expensive bouquet on sale from his company this year is the order for 999 roses in one bunch, with a price of around $1000.
However, this year people preferred pink roses over red and the most popular order overall was the Blush Bae pink.