Flower Math Part 5 of 5 - Win Win. I talk with Jennie Love about working together.

[@johickey3158]

I have really enjoyed this series, thank you for your time and knowledge xx

[@ellenfrostflowers]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@notamuggle3894]

Thank you both for this mini course!! ❤❤

[@ellenfrostflowers]

Our pleasure! so glad you found it helpful!

[@Whipporwhill]

As a flower farmer who works very hard to keep my prices fair/reasonable/competitive, I feel that the florists I deal with make too big of a deal over making sure they are getting the absolute cheapest price from me versus the wholesaler. The florist has a lot of wiggle room on their end & can charge the customers as needed to adequately cover the price paid to the farmer. They are in a much better position to keep the value of the product profitable in my opinion. The farmer has much less margin to work with than the florist. If my sunflowers, for example sake, are a dime or a quarter more than the wholesaler's, big deal! Lol. Charge the customer more accordingly. All within reason of course. High quality local are fresher, not shipped long distance dry-packed in a box, & rumpled. Better in every way. Yet, I'm made to feel like if I don't compete penny for penny with the wholesaler, I wont get the sale or the ongoing business. Super frustrating. And the florists are not really interested in the pricing reasoning, just the bottom line only in my experience.

[@NicholeElizabeth]

I feel exactly the same way. If the end customer wants and values sunflowers, for example, then they should have to pay what it costs (a) the grower to grow it (plus their sustainable margin) and (b) the florist what it cost them to create with it (plus their sustainable margin). Otherwise neither business can afford to grow/design with that product. The answer isn’t to ask one or both businesses to lower their prices. At the end of the day the end customer is buying a luxury item with discretionary income. If *they* want it they should have to pay for it.

[@Whipporwhill]

@@NicholeElizabeth Yes, and, as flower farmers, especially those of us in rural areas, we have so few customers (florists) to sell our product to, whereas the mass wholesalers have a much larger market base to sell to, & the florist themselves have a much larger customer base to sell to & many sources to buy from, so they can all much more easily pick & choose, & pass on costs to the end buyer. But if we don't get our price at the beginning of the supply chain, we simply cannot continue to stay in business while we compete to save the florist ten cents a stem on a larkspur. Lol I have a few florists who are so ridiculous about this it is insane. I 💯 get that we must bring a reasonably & competitively priced product to market, but if this whole local flower model is going to work, florists have to pay the prices we require & then charge accordingly. Local doesn't mean cheap! I am always happy to discuss pricing with my florists & to even adjust if I'm out of line. But ultimately, florists need to understand how critical it is for us to get a price that allows us to keep growing. A few of the flower farmers in my area will undercut my prices to some of my regular florists by dumping their occasional excess or inferior product at below production cost. Blown peonies & 75-cent tulips, right in peak season so that I'm then expected to compete with those cheap prices or appear over-priced. 😕 These same flower farmers have also purchased product from me to fill their subscriptions & to use for events, & then passed it off as grown on their farms without credit to my farm for product I grew. Super cringe to me! I'd like to see some education & discussion on flower farmer ethics as well as pricing discussion. 🙂🌿🌸

[@rachelle3445]

Thank you

[@ellenfrostflowers]

You're welcome

[@memethomas5402]

Do florist, as a buyer, have a price list they share with fower farmers as to the , average price for each type of flowers flower florist is willing to pay¿

[@ellenfrostflowers]

No. All pricing comes from the farmers. What a florist is willing/able to pay may change from week to week or job to job. It might also be impacted by the quality of the flowers.

[@cbak1819]

There are first harvest that is best.. such as the difference between zinnia's first cuts are best, second is smaller.

[@memethomas5402]

Do florist as buyers of local flowers from flowergrowers have an early discussion with all their flower farmers as a whole, what flowers they plan to purchase in the coming seasons. So LFF can adjust their SAILs (yes Sails) to be prepared with florist need?

[@ellenfrostflowers]

We do have meetings with our growers but for the most part do not talk specifically of what we'll be buying. Depending on the type of florist (weddings and events vs. retail. vs. funerals) , they may not know what they need until the week they are buying. We will discuss general color palettes that we may see being requested, but not specifics.