Florist nightmare
Say what?! Yes you heard it right. Let’s not do red roses this year for Valentine’s. As a florist you know the headaches this supposedly romantic peak brings you. Troubles with sourcing the product, an overflowing shop trying to cool and hydrate crazy volumes, evidently the quality issues, the ridiculous prices and the absence of creativity… why do we still get our partner a red rose on Valentine’s Day? London florist Bloomsbury Flowers has boldly refused to join the madness and hasn’t worked with red roses during Valentine’s for over 20 years! Wish you could escape too but don’t know how? Educate your customer with good marketing! There’s lots of reasons to argue why red roses on Valentine’s are completely outdated and unnecessary.
Environmental reasons
From a grower’s perspective, because there is so much volume sold, they have to farm quite a lot of area just to meet this demand. The problem is that the rest of the year there is not that high a demand. This results in unproductive land the remainder of the year. More importantly, it means that most workers are only needed for the Valentine’s Day peak, which prevents them from being able to have a stable job all year.
It’s all about the money
Peaks in demand mean growers struggle to fulfil the orders. Because of the economical game of supply and demand, naturally the prices during peaks rise dramatically. Consumers end up thinking flowers are more expensive than they really would be any other day because they are buying at the peak. In essence, consumers believe flowers are too expensive for everyday use because they only buy at the peak price. People tend to forget that nature doesn’t know it’s a holiday. It will produce the same every day, the peak of demand is a man-made problem.
Pay much, receive little
So yes, crazy prices during Valentine’s. But at least that keeps the lady happy? Think again because at the same time, quality drops as farms scramble to get enough flowers to fulfil all of their orders! In other words, for the higher price, you’re not even getting good value for your money.
A thoughtful gift
Imagine if, instead of the obvious red rose, your customer surprises his partner with something completely different. Talk about making a girl feel special! This shows that there is some actual thought put into the gift. A red rose is so straight forward and almost feels like an item checked off the to do list.
I’m lost..!
Alright so no red roses. Now what? Go for a nice cream rose bouquet, a wild eucalyptus mix or bouquet with soft colors and white calla lilies. A single stemmed beautiful big hydrangea or orchid flower is a wonderful option too, and you could go fancy with the wrapping. Instead of mixed bouquets, just putting together a bunch of deep red alstroemeria or lilies gives a special and picturesque look.
What this holiday is really about: celebrating love
Our last note is, don’t join the red rose mayhem and focus on celebrating love instead. Don’t let your customers be lazy or bad for the environment (or their wallet) and give yourself a break while you’re at it. Let’s put a smile on our women’s faces this Valentine’s!
