State of the Floral Industry Today, January 6th 2021

 We all have high hopes that 2021 will bring some normalcy to our lives.   However, the impacts of 2020 are still rippling through most retail industries.  For example, most retailers base purchasing off of the same time frame from the prior year.   2020 was a total cluster--- to put it bluntly.   It provides no baseline AT ALL for retailers to make any kind of predictions or clear decisions about what to buy, how much, and when to get it in (if it gets shipped on time)  

Flower farms were literally throwing away product last year around April and May because nothing could be shipped out of South America, and no one was buying due to shutdowns.   Many farms plowed under their crops to cut their losses.  Then they(the growers) needed to plant flowers in May and June that would mature and be ready for harvest in January.  This January.  With limited personnel due to either Covid Restrictions or the Illness itself, the number of flower crops that were planted was drastically reduced.  

This week alone I have not been able to order in basic flowers such as Snapdragons, Larkspur, some Delphiniums, and Tulips.  Limited supplies mean anything that was available Monday is now bought up and new shipments won't be coming until the weekend.  

Where am I going with this?   

I had a customer who was quite irritated when I had to call them about the order they placed on our website for a specific arrangement.  I could not fulfill as pictured because I did not have - and could not get- the flowers in that arrangement. I hate making any customer unhappy but what flowers are available this week are completely out of my control.  COVID is STILL making things difficult for retailers to maintain inventory and keep everyone happy with the selections available.   

Please== be patient.   We are not psychic, we do not know what will sell, how many, and when it will sell.  We are doing the best we can to maintain flower inventory based on day to day sales.   These flowers need to be shipped from South America and Europe, we do not have greenhouses with these flowers "out back" somewhere that we can harvest from.   

Valentines day is right around the corner and I fully anticipate product that order not arriving on time, not being available at the time of shipment, and the possibility that we may disappoint some customers. 

Contrary to popular belief, florists don't "get rich" off of Valentines day with the prices we charge.  OUR prices triple so basic economics suggests the customers' price triple as well.   Do I like it- No.    Valentines day is no different profit wise than any other day- we're just doing ten times the volume we would do on a normal day.   I would much prefer a steady flow of orders the entire month then the craziness that is Valentines week.   

My hope for 2021 is this; that the vaccines become widely available, we all stay healthy, and no one gets shut down again. 

COVID-19 & Flowers

Running a small business this year is hard.  Running a small business that relies on imported fresh product is even harder.  90% of the fresh flowers we sell are imported from other countries, mostly in South America.

In countries that export, a sharp sudden decline in demand for flowers meant millions of stems of flowers being thrown away. Why ? Because the flower industry is a global economy and is balanced by a constant flow of demand and supply. 

For example:

Imagine throwing a weekly dinner party for say, 100 people.  You're supplying all of the food and beverages.   One week everyone cancels.  You already have the food. The next week they cancel again.....now you have two weeks worth of food that you are throwing away because you cannot possibly consume the quantity of food you now have on hand.  Plus it's perishable and maybe the bananas look okay but that salmon was toast after 3 days. Flowers are the same situation.

We do have some local resources for flowers but when the first restrictions were put in place in March, that meant many of the US farms had to shut down- for good.  Fresh flowers need to be harvested off the plants to promote new growth.  If no one is there to harvest, package and ship, eventually the business has to plow under the plants and call it a loss. 

Now that we've been open for a little over a month I can tell you things are never going to be the same for our industry.

Flights with cargo containing flowers may get bumped or canceled.  Airports might become completely shutdown due to sudden spike in Covid19 cases.   Yes the US is starting to reopen, but South America is just now riding the Covid19 wave.   This could mean serious implications on what flowers are available in the coming months.    Ecuador is one of the largest producers of roses worldwide.  Imagine ordering roses and not being able to get them until a week later instead of the next day.  That is a very real possibility. 

I have already struggled to get product in on a regular basis.  It's frustrating and there is really nothing I can do about it.  There is nothing my suppliers can do either.   Many of the sales and delivery personnel for the wholesale sector were laid off in March and were not called back by May.   Everyone in small business is trying to cut costs any way they can.  Labor is one of the biggest overhead cost in a small business like flower shops.  It is also the hardest one to scale back because we NEED people to run a business. 

Every week that I am open, I am grateful.   This is definitely a daily struggle to cover costs and make any sort of a profit.  There is a large misconception that small business owners are paying themselves really well and are taking all the profits for their own pockets.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Many small business owners draw a salary that is less per hour than minimum wage pays in some states.  Some even take less of a salary than what they will pay their most valuable employees.   Why?  Because we want our business to be successful, to have that pride in what you have accomplished and built.  If we wanted to be rich we would go work for a big corporation that can offer sick pay, health insurance and 401k benefits.

Hurricanes & Agriculture impacts

Between Irma and Harvey there will be great economic impact on us all.    It goes without saying of the devastation in Texas from #Harvey, and the soon to be seen impact of #Irma on all of Florida.
The immediate destruction will be obvious but the other, trickle-down-economics of a hurricane's impact may be felt for months.  

Per the article about some Florida farms Sugar and Hog farms brace for Irma    hurricane prepping is already in motion.  Moving livestock to higher ground and storing grain for possible transportation outages is just one example.

Orange trees may be completely destroyed, another huge crop for Florida and the US period.

For the floral industry, although what we do is not considered a necessity, we too will feel the impact. Florida is a major producer of greenery (leather leaf, lemon leaf, moss, etc) and green plants.  Green plants not only for decorative purposes but also for the production of fresh herbs, fruit and vegetables.   Expect the prices of even the modest leather leaf greenery, found in most floral arrangements to double in price.  Other countries that import Florida-grown greenery will also feel the price increase - and possibly a transportation disruption.

Florida boasts one of the busiest international airports for exporting and importing in the US- Miami International.   All products being imported from South America, Mexico and elsewhere come through this airport to be inspected and then loaded on trucks or connecting flights for distribution throughout the US.   As of today, American Airlines has canceled 2,000 flights scheduled for Miami.
Growers won't be able to ship flowers into Miami throughout much of this weekend.  Transporation could be further complicated by the damage after Irma leaves, as the roads may be impassable even if the product lands safely in Miami.   You may not see the price increases right away, but as supply and demand laws go into full effect, you will see steep increases on everything from gas, oranges, cotton,  pork and yes, even flowers.