When you think about it, how many products do you buy that are guaranteed to become worthless in a week or two? Sure that steak you bought needs to be eaten soon – but you could freeze it. And yes, Christmas trees are not too valuable on December 26 th – but that only happens once a year. But how about dealing with a product whose demand and price varies every day of year, can’t always be sourced, and is subject to constant variations in size, color, and quality? Welcome to the world of the cut flower wholesale buyer!
Back in the 50s, cut flower wholesalers were known as speculators and for good reason. Each and every day they would buy flowers from growers and importers while trying to gauge demand for each variety, color, size and price point. On big holidays like Valentines Day, they would have to factor the day of the week for the Holiday and even the weather forecast! If they were too conservative, they would run out of product and miss the opportunity. If they bought wrong, they would end up with inventory in the cooler becoming worthless by the hour. While they don’t go by that title any more, It is still easy to spot a wholesale flower location, because you will always see a huge dumpster out back used to dispose of all the miscalculations of the speculator!
LF
BloomsByTheBox.com co-founder Larry Fox grew up surrounded by flowers and plants working alongside his father in the family landscaping and nursery business. Since then, he has built over thirty years experience working in the wholesale flower industry. He puts expertise to work every day sourcing the finest fresh cut flowers from all over the world for Blooms By The Box customers.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks