to Revitalize Your Industry
 ‘Got milk?’ ‘Let’s get cracking!’ ‘Put some pork on your fork!” These are all very successful campaigns by the dairy, egg and hog industry not only to counter health issues but also to position their products on consumers‚ tables.
I’m very concerned about the news from Dr. Marvin Miller, a Ball Company research analyst, presented at a growers‚ conference in Chicago last September. In spite of all the retail growth of horticultural products, particularly in the home improvement sector, the growers in America, for the first time ever, are at zero growth. When compared to an inflation rate of 1.6 per cent, it actually means the sell through of American produced horticultural products is in decline.
I’m sure inexpensive imports play a role in all of this, but when you look at the big picture, it’s timely to ask if our floral industry is growing, staying the same or declining? How many
new flower shops are opening versus closing? How many of us are seeing significant increases in our sales and profitability? I don’t have the statistics on this, but in communicating with many folks in our industry, my sense is we’re flat too, or worse, on the decline.
By nature we are independent, but we must strive to share a common, long-term vision of the floral industry.
‘In lieu of flowers’‚ or ‘no flowers by request’‚ are now common statements on the memorial pages of newspapers. Baskets of food or gourmet products are replacing flowers on tables at events. Every floral season is being out performed by Hallmark Cards, the music industry, technological gadgets, Canadian Tire products and big box‚ goodies. As an industry, we are silent.
In a world that changes every five minutes, our future success, as small individual players, is ‘niching.’ We can be very successful doing this if we do it better than anyone else and keep on the leading edge of the game. We must also have a passion for what we do!
If we look beyond our individual companies and really care about our industry, we need to work together with growers and wholesalers to reposition our products in people’s lives. By nature we are independent, which may make all this quite a challenge, but we must strive to share a common, long-term vision of the floral industry. It means giving up some marketing independence to market as a community, as a region, as a province, as a country. It means contacting our floral competitors and arranging to work together to put more flowers in more people’s lives. It means developing strategic plans and visionary concepts to put the warmth of flowers back in funeral services, on tables to dress up events, and in homes and offices for special occasions or ‘just because.’
This is a bigger issue than most of us realize. The time to act is now, not sometime in the future. It requires selflessness, not selfishness. It means ‘we,’ not ‘I.’ Are we up to the challenge?
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