My Tulip Gambit

For many years I bought winter tulips from a farm in New Jersey through a wholesaler. It was the closest flowers grown to me I could I buy at the time. The flowers were very good. They were high quality with a variety of singles, doubles, fringed and parrots available in many colors,. The price was reasonable. The only problem I had with them was the distance they were grown from my Baltimore shop. I only sell locally-grown flowers. New Jersey is stretching it.

I'm not a flower farmer, but I figured if tulips could be grown in New Jersey in the winter, they can grow a little farther south too, maybe even better and cheaper. I was spending tens of thousands of dollars on tulips every winter. I preferred to buy directly from one of my local farmers. I could reduce the shipping and work with a partner at scale. I also wanted to provide Maryland grown tulips to my customers. That's kinda my thing.

My friend Jessica Todd is a grower in Union Bridge, MD. Her family's nursery is about 60 miles away from me and mostly sells trees to municipalities. Jessica sells flowers to me from a side business she started called Cut Flowers by Clear Ridge. She was an obvious partner for my winter tulip experiment. She had the infrastructure including heated greenhouses. She had the knowledge and experience for large scale commercial flower growing. She also has an adventurous spirit which included a farm tour trip to India.

It didn't take much convincing. When I proposed my scheme, Jessica was in. We didn't make a formal agreement. I said I was willing to buy all of the tulips she grew to start - an offer I've made to several start-up growers. After she got established, she could expand and sell to other florists.

We got off to a bumpy start. Our first year, 2017, the bulbs from the supplier were not chilled properly and we didn't get any sellable flowers. The following season, Jessica grew gorgeous tulips that were ready for harvest in January -just in time for the sales lull between Christmas and Valentine's Day. After some tweaks, we got it right the next winter. The tulips were perfect and on time. We now just needed to figure out if we could make any money.

I'm accustomed to paying a higher price for local flowers. Local farmers are not going to beat imported flowers on cost. My margins are lower and my retail prices are higher than conventional florists. But, I make it work with better quality, a unique business model and a community of loyal customers committed to my shop. Jessica's tulips right now cost me $2.00 a stem with a $35 delivery fee. We negotiated the price down from $2.35 last year. At that price, Jessica will give us the tulips with the leaves on and I will do the stripping. The wholesale New Jersey tulips cost me $1.25 a stem with $15 delivery fee. Imported tulips can be as low as $1 per stem wholesale. I admit, those are big obstacle to overcome. 

Is it worth it? My value proposition is not price. My customers like the story behind the tulips. They want to buy from me and Jessica, not a nameless factory farm in Colombia. My flowers' value is in their quality, longevity and pride of origin. They're fresher and more sustainable. They're fragrant like a flower is supposed to be. They didn't travel on a plane across countries or FedEx truck across states. I'm building supply and demand for locally grown flowers from farmers I know and customers who care about where they spend their money.

Next year might be a different story. Bulbs are becoming more scarce and more expensive. Recently, on the Dirt on Flowers podcast, Ampersand Bulb owner Linda D'arco said that tulips may become more of a luxury focal flower. Dave Dowling, of Ball Seed said he's hearing the bulb prices could go up as much as 20% in 2025. Yikes!

My customers love local flowers but the increases coming may be too much for us to absorb. I'll enjoy our local tulips while I can.

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