Have you heard the news? There's a massive worldwide flower shortage, and it's made this year's wedding boom even more wild than we ever imagined. Wondering why you haven't seen white roses on our stem bar lately?
Here's what's going on behind the scenes...
Breakdowns in the flower supply chain
In the floral industry, we're still dealing with the effects of COVID-19 restrictions and shutdowns. Many farms and growers temporarily shut down in 2020, leading to delays in planting and harvesting, and the loss of an entire season's worth of crops. Sadly, some farms closed altogether, and some growers transitioned to growing other crops instead of flowers. This huge loss to our industry has led to massive flower shortages, as well as unpredictable availability for many specialty flower varieties.
Combined with weather-related challenges that have caused the supply chains to breakdown at every level, and manufacturing delays for vases and other floral industry supplies... we're looking at an unprecedented year of shortages.
So where are those white roses?
Let's unpack this crisis by considering the classic white rose: one of the hardest flowers to find at the market lately. White flowers are some of the most complicated for farmers to grow, because their petals show blemishes more than any other color. The uptick of horrible weather in 2021 (recent flooding, hurricanes, tornados, etc.) adds to the blemishes, which means wholesalers have even less stock to sell. Combined with the reduced crops planted due to labor shortages, there's just fewer white roses to go around.
Unfortunately, it's not just white roses. The shortage is actually just the tip of the iceberg. The cost of ALL our flowers have gone up, anywhere from 30%... to 400%. YIKES.
Tick tick tick tick... Wedding BOOM!
While those of us in the floral industry struggle to secure even the most basic of supplies, the events industry is coming roaring back! We're as excited as you are for the return of in-person events, and have been preparing behind the scenes for the anticipated wedding boom of 2021 and 2022. More couples will be married this year than they have in decades.
To prepare for this busy season, we redesigned our à la carte wedding menu to make it easy to select your dream assortment of wedding flowers, from bouquets to boutonnières. For couples who want fully custom florals, we also continue to offer full service flower design, for dramatic installations, lush tablescapes... if you can dream it, we can do it.
While demand has skyrocketed with the return of weddings and events, supply is nowhere near where it would be in a normal year.
We're so grateful to flower for your most joyful days. We see this flower shortage as both a business challenge and a creative challenge. How can we continue to deliver the jaw-dropping arrangements and bouquets that you love... when the flower market is looking way emptier than usual?
1. Great relationships
Our industry partners are going above and beyond to secure beautiful flowers for Native Poppy, every day.
2. Our farm is growing strong
The bees are buzzing and the flowers are blooming at Native Poppy's urban farm in El Cajon. We're successfully growing many of our own blooms, thanks to the expertise of our lead gardener, Margaret!
3. Our florists are artists
Native Poppy florists have the creative skills to make magic with whatever varieties are available. We're focused on the vibe, not the specific blooms.
Some varieties (ahem, roses) will continue to be limited, and certain varieties may not be available. But here's one thing we know for sure: we'll be here to create beautiful, inspiring flowers for you, no matter which flower varieties we happen to have on our stem bar each day.