One of the most-appealing things about cut flowers is that there are so many options for flower farm sales outlets. Today, we’re exploring some of the best options for selling flowers.

Flower Farm Sales Outlets

In order to have a flower farm business, you must have customers. And customers require sales outlets! Knowing which is right for you when just starting out can feel overwhelming, but considering each option in conjunction with your market, personality, and goals can help ease the process.  Here are some of the most common options to consider:

• CSA (Flower Subscription)
• Farmers Market
• Farm Stand
• Mobile Farm Stand (and Pop Ups)
• Grocery
• Restaurants, Hotels, Businesses
• Florist
• Wholesale
• Retail: Brick and Mortar
• Wedding & Events
• Online Sales

As you consider each potential flower sales outlet, also consider your personality and goals. In the beginning, it’s easy to want to say yes to every opportunity. But if these are not aligned, it can lead to burn out fast.

For example, if you’re a private person, perhaps having people on your farm is not a great fit. Or if you’re introverted, farmers markets may not be the right choice, but grocery could be perfect! If there is a good market opportunity but it does not fit your personality, you can also consider hiring out. There are SO many lucrative sales outlets when it comes to flowers that I truly believe you can find one that aligns with your core strengths and needs (or many!).

Let’s take a peek into each outlet, including some of the considerations, advantages, and disadvantages (which may be different depending on your personality!).

CSA (Flower Subscription)

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. CSAs were first made popular by vegetable farms. In a traditional CSA, the farm offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. The share typically includes a box of seasonal produce throughout the season. The shares are purchased ahead of time, increasing cashflow for the farm during the slow season.

CSA members share in both the risk but also abundance of the farm. For example, if there was a crop loss due to inclement weather, the CSA share is not traditionally reimbursed. However, if there is a bumper crop, consumers receive incredibly nutrient-dense food at a great value. It’s also a great way to introduce folks to a variety of different seasonal crops, all while fostering a sense of community. There are, of course, different variations of this model, but this is the general premise.

Flower farms have followed suit, offering Flower CSAs or Flower Subscriptions. Here again, farms are asking customers to make an upfront investment in the farm. Subscribers then receive flowers for their investment. Some farms offer a weekly subscription, while others offer bi-weekly or monthly options. Some offer certain seasons or certain flowers (e.g., a “Spring Flowers CSA” or “Peony Subscription”). Farms often pair with local businesses as pickup locations, but delivery and farm pick up are also great options.

The advantage of a CSA is that you can market during major holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day when flowers and sales are otherwise slower. It’s also a guaranteed sale for your flowers.

While CSAs and subscriptions are a lower-interaction outlet, consistent communication with members is key. This can be as simple as email, but the details should be clear and the messaging consistent. Members need to understand how the subscription will work and where to find the information easily.

If you want to build a loyal base, one major thing to consider is that you need come through consistently on your end. Even though customers are making an investment in the farm, I think it’s extremely important to follow through on that investment. You must have a good understanding of the seasonality of flowers, so that you’re able to provide flowers each week. If nothing, a good back-up plan is important if things are scarce or there is a crop failure (e.g., offer dried flower bouquets).

Farmers Market

If you enjoy being around people, Farmers Markets are a wonderful flower farm sales outlet! Not only are they great for selling your flowers at a good price, they also give exposure to your business and can help you build relationships in your community. You can get to know other vendors for possible future collaboration and also meet new customers that you would not have met otherwise.

While markets are a great way to introduce your business to more people, it does not guarantee sales. Just be prepared that some flowers may not sell. While this may seem like a disadvantage for the work put in, the flip side is that you sell out, which means you left sales on the table.

Similar to CSAs, you’ll need a strong plan for providing flowers consistently throughout the season. Consistency is not only important to establish yourself as a reliable supplier, but some markets have attendance requirements (i.e., you can only miss so many).

Farmers markets may also have other requirements too. For example, you may be required to obtain and show proof of liability insurance. There also may be an application and approval process before you are accepted into the market. Be sure to research your local markets, including their foot traffic, overall vibe, their requirements, and applications process.

Another big thing to consider with farmers markets is your time. They are usually on the weekends during set hours and will require setup and take down. Another thing to consider is your climate. Keeping flowers fresh and in peak condition can be tough in really hot climates. Farmers markets are excellent for extroverts who enjoy interacting with potential customers and have the time required to commit to a market.

Farm Stand

There are a number of ways to structure a farm stand. It can be more interactive, where you’re there to connect with folks, or less interactive and based on an honor system. While farm stands can be structured to run even when you’re not there, if you are a private person who doesn’t love the idea of people being on your property, this may not be a good option. People are naturally curious and could wander🙂

Instead of going to the market, bring the market to you! Farm stands can be a great option for high-traffic areas or if you have a solid following. The advantage of a farm stand is the ability to generate sales without having to leave the farm. Not only can also add on a variety of farm products when available, this is all about the experience of driving out to the farm!

Mobile Farm Stand and Pop Ups

I’m grouping these together, but you can go in a lot of directions here, and they can be as simple or complex as your heart desires! Think any type of mobile flower stand: trucks, carts, stands, trailers, anything that can be converted into a cute flower display 🙂 These can be as involved as an actual vehicle or as simple as a mobile stand.

When we’ve down flower pop-ups, we use this simple stand from Amazon. It looks way better in person and the price is pretty reasonable for trying this option out.

The advantage of mobile flower stands (actual vehicles or simple setups) is that they can travel to your potential customers! These are great during festivals, events, or pop-ups at popular local establishments. They can even be rented for bridal showers, birthday parties, and more.

While these are generally more interactive, there can be more flexibility on time commitment as you can structure it around your availability and comfortability. On the flip side, these can be inconsistent outlets.

Grocery

Grocery could be a great option if you prefer less interaction. Groceries are great place to offer florals, especially as buying local keeps gaining in popularity! Seeking out grocers that support and offer locally-produced goods is a great place to start. While the prices you’ll get are usually on the lower end, it’s a great option for pushing a lot of product and guaranteed sales. Grocery is also a much less interactive outlet if you’re more introverted. You’ll want to focus on growing attention-grabbing crops with a longer vase life.

Restaurants, Hotels, Businesses

Higher-end restaurants, hotels, or other businesses often want fresh flowers each week! In our area, there are restaurants that have small vases on tables, hotels that have lush entrance arrangements, and more. Getting your foot in the door may require some cold calls, but once you’re in, it’s a fairly low-interaction gig if you’re more introverted. Businesses may want consistency, so consider how you could provide that during the off season (dried florals, bringing in wholesale options, etc.). The advantage is that this is a consistent, guaranteed sale outlet for your flower farm.

Florist

If you love growing unique botanicals and are good at communication, you might love working with florists! Florists with an eye for garden design will be delighted with locally-grown flowers. Focus on flowers that do not travel well (dahlias, cosmos, sweet peas, etc.), but also research florists in your area to get a feel for their preferences and design style.

While each florist is unique, some things to keep in mind are that they may have very-particular requests and require more communication than typical customers (like yellow, but not too yellow). This can be because they are working with demanding clients or in high-pressure situations.

It’s also important to be as specific as possible, especially on colors! If you use the name of the flower, it can be confusing if they are not familiar with a specific variety (i.e., a “Blue Diamond” tulip isn’t actually blue).

If you’re considering selling to florists, get on some wholesale lists so you can familiarize yourself with what they are used to seeing (lists, prices, quality, etc.). Consider ordering wholesale too! I’ve learned SO much by simply ordering wholesale. While there are amazing wholesale options, they are not without their challenges. By ordering wholesale, you can start to understand the challenges that florists are faced with and provide solutions.

At first, I was totally intimidated to work with florists. But much to my surprise, they’ve quickly become my favorite people to work with!! They truly appreciate special varieties and you can learn SO much from them. I also tell them that if something seems whack, my flowers, the vase life, the price, whatever, to just let me know. It does not hurt my feelings and they’ll save me from looking like a dumb@ss in the future. Again, communication and transparency go a long way.

One of my very first florist orders, he gave me way more than I charged him because he said he could never get dahlias like this from his wholesaler. This was an *amazing* confidence boost for me because I was completely convinced my flowers were not as good as the “professional” wholesalers. I know better now. You can learn a lot from florists🙂.

Working with florists can be a great option if you prefer 1:1 interactions and creating longer-term relationships with people.

Wholesale

Wholesale is a great option if you have a lot of flowers that you need to move quickly. The price is usually lower, but you can sell a large volume versus storing, packaging, and delivering weekly. This is a great option if you prefer creating long-term relationships, have the ability to grow a large number of flowers, and don’t enjoy customer interaction.

Retail: Brick & Mortar

While it’s a less common flower farm sales outlet, a brick and mortar retail store is also a possibility! This may work best for store owners who may want to grow a few small, specialty crops to supplement their shop. This is a more-interactive outlet.

Weddings & Events

Weddings and events are some of the most profitable flower farm sales outlets. If you enjoy design and growing high-end flowers, this could be a great fit for you. It should be noted, though, that the high price tag often comes with an immense amount of work that is usually fast paced, high pressure, and requires intense attention to detail.

That said, there are a number of ways to structure weddings/events based on the level of service you’d like to provide. It can be as simple as bulk buckets for DIY brides or as complex as full-service weddings, with À La Carte weddings falling in between. You can see an example of our À La Carte wedding packet here.

Weddings can also be more or less interactive based on your level of service. For example, we provide both bulk buckets and À La Carte wedding services, but all communication happens via email or Honeybook. Because we are not a full-service wedding floral provider, I only take on phone consultations if the client feels it’s absolutely necessary and charge for that time. Once a client books, communication is still through email, though I do provide my cell should any urgent issues arise. While I’ll dive much deeper on weddings in future posts, I find email is also key for documentation purposes.

Online

Online sales are a great option, so long as you are somewhat tech savvy. I say “somewhat” because there are so many plug-and-play options with a large library of tutorials! It’s easier now more than ever to get into e-commerce. If you’re willing to to take the time to learn online sales, the scalability and options are nearly exponential.

Here again, you can go as simple or as complex as you desire. For example, on our farm, we started small, selling online but delivering locally. Now, we deliver farm products across the nation.

Online flower sales are great if you are more cerebral, introverted, or express yourself better in different mediums (like visually or with copywriting). Once set up, online sales are also streamlined and efficient, working in conjunction with your newsletter and social media. I’m very passionate about online sales and the potential it creates for flower farm sales! I cannot wait to dive deeper on this topic.