2020-21 was a period of hardships and unprecedented uncertainty throughout the floral industry. The pandemic resulted in delayed weddings and cancelled proms – local florists’ lost their regular orders, consequently creating huge waste and overall loss. Florists took a hit, but evolved their businesses in order to survive, leading them to change their approach and creating a larger online presence, which would better suit the needs of the clients as many were social-distancing.

The big lesson from the pandemic was that we need to evolve in order to supply, remodelling processes swiftly and embracing the digital age. The industry is continually under a constant state of change and there is now something that concerns the minds of not only the florists but the whole supply chain…the hike in energy costs this winter. 

A drastic shift in the floral industry is needed or else it will be far from plain sailing for many florists. Many Dutch growers rely on heated greenhouses in the winter and expect serious loss this year as a result of the extreme increase in energy prices, this will result in less supply for UK florists. A third of businesses are now paying triple for electricity compared to 2021. For more than a quarter, gas prices have gone up 3 to 8 times. As well as this, a significant number of growers have chosen to stop working this winter. Reports have also suggested a number of companies have been forced to file for bankruptcy. The situation seems to be considerably more serious than during the 2020-21 pandemic. Consequently, the future as a grower is extremely uncertain.

A seed of hope

At BloomDirect we have come up with a reliable and exciting solution! We have partnered with the world’s leading growers and suppliers of fresh cut flowers and premium produce. They supply BloomDirect with British grown flowers as well as fresh stems from sunnier climates. BloomDirects partners farm 1,300 hectares in Kenya and Ethiopia, affiliating with 900 growers in over 19 countries, enabling BloomDirect to deliver the freshest products across the UK at a lower price. We are now benefiting from fresh stems grown in natural sunlight from warmer climates; eradicating the need to use heated greenhouses!