Flower growers in Carpinteria have weathered a year for the books in “bloomenomics.” Mid-March last year, the pandemic crippled the industry, halting transportation and distribution and leading local growers to donate, burn and compost thousands of blooms. Almost a year later, most of Carpinteria’s flower growers are still standing, starting to see more consistent sales and feeling optimistic toward the future.
In the heart of Carpinteria’s flower basket corridor, at Myriad Flowers on Foothill Road, Harry and Michelle Van Wingerden have been growing roses and floribunda since 1999. After sales at the family farm plummeted last spring, Myriad saw an uptick throughout the summer when markets and wholesalers reopened, and transportation of flower crops resumed. Still, the event industry’s prolonged shutdown has meant dramatic shifts were needed for the farm to stay afloat.
Pre-pandemic, regular sales for Myriad included selling to the California-based wholesale market, the L.A. and San Diego flower markets and other wholesalers in across the country – much of which has yet to return. “Right now, a majority of our sales is staying within California and we still have a pretty good presence in Phoenix and Las Vegas, but anything past that – a lot of those customers came back for Valentine’s Day but not after,” said Erik Van Wingerden, CFO of Myriad.
For Myriad, closing the sale of a parcel making up roughly half their farm in late August was a huge help in getting the company through the pandemic’s financial blows. “We were in the process of trying to sell anyway but it was happenstance that the deal went through then,” Van Wingerden said. “The sale helped us augment our losses and we were also able to get a PPP loan. Those two things enabled us to continue in business.”
The reduction in property meant a loss in flower production – almost half of Myriad’s roses. Downsizing came at the right moment, as regular sales venues and demand were significantly reduced this past year for Myriad. “We have enough product for our demand. But not too much in excess that we have to sell at a very low price or dump,” Van Wingerden said. Since Myriad grows roses in nurseries, they weren’t impacted by the cold snap which caused many flower growers across the country to lose out on Valentine’s Day sales because flowers had not bloomed in time.
In addition to wholesale flower markets, Myriad has maintained revenue through its sales at farmers markets throughout Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Most of these farmers markets – which are open air – have been consistently open since late March, after quickly adopting Covid-safe protocols.
In some cases, Myriad’s flower sales at farmers markets are up as high as 50% or even doubled. Van Wingerden attributed the uptick in farmers market sales to people wanting to shop in the open air; plus, with people spending more time at home, cut flowers help brighten and refresh interior spaces, he noted.
“Flowers in general are a low-cost luxury item,” said Van Wingerden, “People aren’t taking vacations and trips, so they might have some more money that they are spending on themselves; and some of that has moved to floral.”
Farmers market sales don’t entirely make up for the losses during the first months of the pandemic and the overall impact to the wholesale trade, but the upward trend has been good news for Myriad and has helped the farm to recover and weather the dearth of weddings and events.
Down the road from Myriad, at Hilltop Flowers, the Welty family has been growing cut flowers since 1974. The sluggish event industry has hurt Hilltop’s wholesale revenue, but once transportation returned over the summer, and the Los Angeles and San Diego markets reopened, Hilltop was able to adjust to demand and, while not where they were economically in 2019, they are seeing sales and recovering. “For the most part, we are able to clean out our cooler every day,” said Karen Graf, Hilltop manager.
For Hilltop, the winter cold spell before Valentine’s Day – one of the biggest holidays for flower growers of the year – impacted their ability to ship crops across the country. Additionally, many of their flowers grown in fields did not bloom in time for the holiday weekend.
“All of us suffered with the big freeze across the country which had a big effect on moving products east,” Graf said. “And many of the flowers did not come on until after. They didn’t freeze but the ground was so cold they didn’t open, and you can’t cut them until they are ready. We had flowers that were tall and nice but not blooming.”
That said, Hilltop was able to sell all their blooms in February, in large part because the demand was greater than the supply. Hilltop’s sales revenue was better this year on Valentine’s Day than last year because the price of flowers rose during the three weeks before the holiday.
During this time, another concern emerged though: offshore flower sales to the local market. “Customers scurried around looking for flowers and many ended up going offshore,” Graf said. “It’s always worrisome when customers look offshore. We’ve always had that challenge. You worry that they’ll not come back to local availability. But you hope they do because the quality is better in California. It’s hard to compete with offshore flowers as they can grow them cheaper than any growers here.”
By late February, the weather had improved and flowers were in bloom, but without events, sales activity continues to be modest this spring. “As growers, we have to grow anyway. There’s no speculation – there’s no, ‘let’s cut back a little bit’ – we have to grow and find a home for all of our cuts,” Graf said. “I wish I could say that things were miraculously back but they’re not. I’m still optimistic though. We have to be.”
At Westerlay Orchids, flowers are grown entirely indoors in greenhouses that line Via Real. In the last 12 months, the family-owned business that focuses predominantly on growing orchids to sell to supermarkets has seen an upward trend in sales. After hitting historic lows in March of 2020 when log jams in distribution and transportation brought sales down 80%, Westerlay saw an uptick before Mother’s Day that steadily continued, bringing sales back to normal by summer.
“By summer, demand was up, and really from June until now, sales have been at or better than last year,” said Toine Overgaag, Westerlay owner and president. “So, we are really positive about how things have been going … By the numbers, we didn’t do as well as we did the year before but overall, considering where the world is and where other industries are and what other people have gone through, we’re really grateful.”
Overgaag attributes the better than usual sales to people spending more time at home and having extra discretionary funds. “If people are not going out much, maybe they are taking those dollars and saying, ‘let’s just buy some nice plants for the house,’” he said.
Westerlay is generally less impacted by shutdowns in the event industry than cut flower growers such as Hilltop and Myriad. Orchids from Westerlay are typically sold for home consumption and can be purchased already potted from grocery stores.
Year to date, Westerlay’s revenue is roughly 6-7% ahead of last year, but that was anticipated, noted Overgaag. “It’s not because the market is better; it’s because we plan production well in advance . . . the process time is so long that between planting and when that flower ships a couple years have passed. You have to anticipate the market will recover. . . You can’t think that two or three years down the line things will be the same.”
The Link LonkMarch 11, 2021 at 11:57PM
http://www.coastalview.com/news/carpinteria-flower-growers-still-standing-despite-rollercoaster-year/article_df58116c-828a-11eb-a799-177c24852736.html
Carpinteria flower growers still standing, despite rollercoaster year - Coastal View News
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