How The Cut-Flower Trade Has Adapted With The Changing Times

The Cut-Flower Trade has changed with the times. Gone are the days of only buying your flowers locally, or worse, uprooting them yourself from your garden. The reality is that today’s customer has become more selective and demanding than ever before, thanks to the internet. But more about this later, let’s first look at how the cut flower trade has evolved.

1. Technological Advancements

The days of the wild west, cowboy flower farmer are long gone. Today’s cut-flower farmer needs to have a background in horticulture/agronomy and expert knowledge about environmental impact. GIS mapping technology has also become an advantage for the flower industry by reducing manual labor. When working on a GIS map, the information is instantly sent to a computer, and the farmer can easily see which plants can be transported where.

2. Interactive Shopping

If you are a florist,you will want to work with an advanced and up-to-date system. Right now, the most popular tool is the internet, which allows their customers to shop for their favorite flowers with just one click of a mouse. Do they want pink roses that are fragrant or tough red rose bushes? Just type in into their search bar “rose bushes” or “garden shrubs,” and your flower farmer can make recommendations based on your input.

3. Sustainability

Due to pandemic pollution, the cut industry has changed to comply with environmental standards. By using biodegradable packaging, indirect waste management, and minimal transportation, cut flowers can be easily shipped all over the world.  Not only this but nowadays, biodegradable cut flowers are often produced at local flower farms, which farmers can use directly. Therefore, today’s economy allows us to grow naturally in our own country and ship them to anywhere in the world.

4. The Globalization Effect

The cut flower industry today is globalized. The laws and rules for the flower industry are now uniform throughout all continents. No matter where you are in the world, buying flowers is now an easy process.

5. Standardization

Today’s cut flower industry has standardized itself to ensure that all flowers are grown under uniform conditions, no matter where they are grown. Due to this, we no longer need to worry about where we buy our flowers from.

6. A Lot More Choice

The cut flower industry today is similar to the restaurant and wine industries. You can find out whether a restaurant is good or bad through reviews, and if you don’t like it, you can move on to the next place. The same applies to the cut flower industry. You can buy a bouquet from a cheap supermarket or a cheap supermarket chain, but if you want something more exclusive, you can always buy it from boutiques.

7. The Age of the Internet

The majority of people buying flowers online are women between 35-50 who have a higher educational level. Purchasing flowers online has also created many jobs globally, with an estimated 3.1 million people working in the cut flower industry.

8. The Importance of Social Media

Social media has become more important to the cut flower industry than ever before. The ability to sell flowers directly through, for example, Instagram and Facebook have created an interaction between customers which didn’t exist before.

9. The Convenience of Buying Flowers

Buying flowers online has become more convenient than ever before. By pushing a button, you can have your flowers delivered to your home within 24 hours, regardless of where you are in the world.

10. The Importance of Education

As mentioned earlier in this article, there are many opportunities in the cut flower industry today. Who would have thought that the children of the 1980s would be able to become flower farmers at the age of 20? Today’s flower industry is also educating young people about other industries, such as health products.

Conclusion

The cut flower industry has changed a lot throughout the years. Today it offers people even more opportunities to become involved with flowers, growing them or selling them. With all this said, I am sure that the cut flower industry will only continue to grow bigger and better worldwide.