Ag Alert May 5, 2021

Flowers Continued from Page 1

is to “understand better what that trend looks like” and “stay in the good graces of all these new consumers that are experi- encing flowers in a newway.” To that end, hisassociation isworking to understandwhat’s on theminds of flower buyers, and devising newways tomarket and deliver to them. “What I expect to see happen is that there will be new flower outlets that none of us couldsit hereand thinkof right now,” Dionne said. But ramping up production tomeet ex- panding demand can be difficult. “We try tomaximize all the greenhouse space we have,” Kitayama said. “We’ve changed several of our crops to crops that we can, one, forecast, andanother, thatwe can turn over quicker. So we’re trying to accommodate that demand.” Forexample,Kitayamahasboostedpro- ductionof ranunculas andminiature calla lilies tomeet customer expectations. Dionne said a farmer’s ability to raise more flowers “really depends on the na- ture of the flower farm.” “LandvaluesareveryhighinCalifornia,” he said. “I don’t know that the factors are so stable right nowthat peoplearemaking long-term capital investment decisions and expanding their operations.” (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He can be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

Demand has jumped for

last year, there’s a supply issue simply fromthe standpoint of demand is sohigh,” Dionne said. AllanNishita, who runs a flower whole- salebusiness inSacramento, saidhe’s ask- ing his customers to be patient. “Going into this holiday, we try to tell everybody that product is tight and try to be flexible,” Nishita said. California farms account for about 74% of U.S. cut flower wholesale value. “After the pandemic slammed the brakes on the flower business a year ago March, no one knew what to expect for Mother’sDay in2020, and it caught every- body off guard because it was a busy holi- day,” Nishita said. “It just seems like from that period to now, it’s continued.” Kitayama said thepandemic prompted people to use flowers to do their talking for them. “It’s been very difficult for people to be able to express emotions,” Kitayama said. “You know, ‘I love you,’ ‘thinking of you,’ ‘thank you,’ ‘I’m sorry,’ sympathy—all those things. If you can’t visit someone to express those, flowers have been a very popular way for people to do that.” BeyondMother’sDay, eventsmay com- bine to empty greenhouses and coolers around the state. During thenext 18 to24months, “there’s

gerbera daisies and other flow- ers, and grow- ers say they ex- pect the trend to continue past Mother’s Day.

going to be a huge demand, this pent-up demand, whether it’s graduations, wed- dings, anniversaries,whatever celebration people have,” Kitayama said. Nishita said event planners who have largely been absent the past year have be- gun to return. “As the vaccination rates go up and the levels in the hospitals and all seem to sta- bilize, I would think things will open up more, which would then open up for our eventplannersorwedding typeof custom- ers, schoolsandsuch,”Nishitasaid, adding that fall is a busywedding season. “I’mimagining that 2021couldbeoff the boardwhenit comes toweddings,”hesaid. Dionne said demand traditionally tails off after June, which can be a bless- ing in disguise. “Come July and August, everybody can takeabit of adeepbreathandget ready for what Iexpect tobeanabsolutelyhistorical- ly high-demand fall season,” Dionne said, attributing the demand to autumn wed-

dings and the return of corporate parties and other events. ThoughDionnesaidheforeseespent-up demandplaying itselfout, healsoexpectsa newnormal toemerge fromthepandemic. “What I don’t think is going away is the fact that flowers are nowbeing consumed byadifferent consumerprofile fordifferent reasons,” he said. Through thepandemic, Dionne saidhe has seenmore of a European cultural ap- proach among Americans. “They’re wanting to have fresh flowers in theirpersonal spaces regularly,”he said. “This ishowit’sbeeninEurope for forever.” Citing this “cultural trend” andwhat he called “the Instagram and TikTok effect,” Dionne said flower purchases are taking hold of a different demographic than the business has traditionally served. “I think that’s an enduring trend, but it is up to us as an industry to come togeth- er and promote that,” he said, adding that for people in the flower business, the goal

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14 Ag Alert May 5, 2021