LuLu lifts India flower shipments to GCC by 20% for Onam despite regional disruption
LuLu Group is sourcing marigolds from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for GCC Onam demand, deploying chartered Kochi–Abu Dhabi cargo flights alongside regular air and sea freight. Shipment volumes are about 20% above last year.
What happened
Lulu Group · LuLu Group increased Onam flower shipments from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to GCC markets by about 20%, using chartered flights, regular air cargo
Key facts
- Two dedicated chartered cargo flights from Kochi to Abu Dhabi
- More than 10,000 tonnes of flowers supplied from India to GCC markets
- Volumes were around 20% higher than last year
- More than two million Malayalis live across the GCC region
Why this matters
LuLu’s reliance on Indian sourcing and dedicated airfreight highlights potential value in partnerships or investments across perishables logistics, cold chain, and South India farm aggregation.
What to watch
- Retail flower prices and promotional intensity in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain during the Onam selling window.
- Chartered-flight frequency, cargo capacity utilization and airfreight-rate movements on India–GCC lanes.
- Spoilage, in-stock and sell-through rates versus prior Onam periods.
- Duration of regional logistics disruption and any resulting delays to air or sea freight.
- Evidence that LuLu extends direct India sourcing to other festival-sensitive perishables.
- Increase pre-booked air-cargo allocations for peak festival perishables and monitor flight utilization versus sea-freight substitution.
- Use flower availability to drive linked sales in Onam foods, gifts, traditional apparel and home-decoration categories.
- Expand direct procurement and cold-chain handling with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka growers to improve consistency and reduce intermediary costs.
- Adjust retail pricing and promotion depth by market based on freight cost, spoilage rates and local demand elasticity.