As the CEO/Ambassador of the California Cut Flower Commission, I speak to a lot of florists from throughout the country who tell me that they love California Grown Flowers, but they just don’t have the access they would need to make a greater offering to their customers. I use the term “access” to describe a variety of reasons that can be mentioned by a florist that range from transportation costs, their wholesalers don’t often offer enough California Grown, price or specific varieties of flowers that California may no longer grow in great quantities (like carnations). However, the demand for “American Grown” products is on the rise, especially when it comes to food. So, with more and more people making “buy local” decisions with their stomach, buying locally grown flowers is a natural connection that more and more people are making.
We see the acknowledgement of this trend from Whole Foods President and COO A.C. Gallo when he was recently quoted, stating:
“Ten or 15 years ago, the organic label was more important to our customers,” Gallo told The Huffington Post. “But we started to feel, over the last five to seven years, that our customers were more interested in buying produce that’s local.”
So, to help encourage you to “turn the petal” and make 2013 the year that you offer and promote your homegrown flowers to your customers, I offer you these three reasons to consider:
To read the rest of the story, please go to: California Cut Flower Commission