Barbeques, pool parties, family vacations, and childhood adventures, there so many things going on in the summer that flowers are probably not on the top of most people’s mind. Summer is a traditionally slow season for floral shops and flower wholesalers, with families off on vacations and fewer weddings on the calendar because of the heat. However, it is a time when local flower growers are in full swing! The rise of social media and a growing desire to buy locally grown products has fueled the market for small, local flower farms to thrive.
Social media has made it much easier to get products in front of potential customers and flower farms are no exception to this rule. Instagram is particularly helpful since you can share beautiful pictures of flowers available as well as share the location they will be sold. Local flower farms and businesses of all types all over the world are using Instagram to market their products to more people than ever before. Instagram is an amazing tool to build brand awareness and knowledge of products offered and is quickly outpacing Facebook as the primary tool for marketing to millennials and beyond.
Social media “influencers” have caused a boom in the growing of sunflowers due to the popularity of the “Sunflower field photoshoot.” Farmers are actually now planting sunflowers fields with the intention of renting time for private photoshoots because so many people are looking for that perfect picture to share online. One farm in Canada got so many visitors last year that the local government had to shut down the operation for the season due to excessive traffic! It is easy to see why a Sunflower field is a picturesque place for striking photos that will generate lots of “likes” and everyone is getting in on the trend this summer!
More and more people are striving to buy locally sourced products in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, support their local economy, and have a direct connection to the people and places where the things we use every day come from. Farmers markets are growing in popularity around the country thanks to the “buy local” movement. Previously only found in large, trendy cities and high-income neighborhoods, farmers markets are now in almost every town during the growing season. Locally grown flowers are a staple of the farmers market, bringing fresh flowers directly to the public and encouraging healthy competition in the market by fueling the public’s interest in flowers year-round. Once you’ve had beautiful fresh flowers in your home, you’ll want them all the time!
During the winter months, wholesalers can source the same flowers grown locally in the summer from growers in the southern hemisphere, so most likely, this trend will increase demand for flowers in the winter months as well. Fresh flowers seem to be in growing demand all over the world regardless of season, which is good news for everyone in the floral industry!
