Columnist

For years, Washington State’s cut-flower production has been associated with tulips, popular for spring tourism and a by-product of commercial bulb production in Skagit Valley. Because of this, Washington has traditionally ranked among the top three U.S. states for floriculture production.

“When local floral agriculture partners with independent grocery stores, great things happen.”

In recent years, however, the floral landscape has changed. Yes, tulips are beloved and important to growers in the state. But a renaissance in cut-flower agriculture, combined with a groundswell of consumer interest in local and seasonal food – as well as floral choices – has led to diversification of floral farming and growth in the number of flower farms. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s “Floriculture Crops 2018 Summary,” the wholesale value of sales of Washington-grown cut flowers increased by almost 5.5 percent in three years, to $21.6 million in 2018, up from $20.5 million in 2015.

The Washington State Farm Bureau (WSFB) and the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) took notice, and in 2017, the two agencies collaborated on a three-year USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) to serve floral agriculture and raise the profile of local cut flowers. “Washington is the third-largest producer of cut flowers [in the U.S.] and, yet, few consumers are aware of the diversity of what is grown here,” says Laura Ridenour, WSDA Regional Markets, one of the project coordinators.

Called “A Collaborative Effort to Advance Washington State Cut Flowers,” the project convened industry stakeholders as advisors, researched best marketing practices and consumer demand and awareness, designed an integrated marketing and outreach campaign to engage consumers, and created farmers’ market manager and farmer training curricula for business growth. Overall, the Washington Flowers Project aims to communicate to consumers and the floral industry how and why to chose local flowers.

The project research showed that most consumers purchase their flowers at convenient places, such as grocery stores, and the team launched a #Washington Flowers grocery pilot in June. The effort was designed to connect cut-flower growers to new markets and sell more local cut flowers, a priority identified in the project grower survey.

The grocery pilot brought together 65-plus independent Northwest Grocers-member stores and their floral distributor to facilitate business development and relationships with local flower farmers. It was announced to flower farms statewide via a live webinar in May, with WSDA and WSFB grant project managers and Jodi Allen, floral director for Charlie’s Produce, a major distributor of fruits and vegetables in the region.

The webinar helped inform small-scale and emerging flower farms, as well as more established growers who had not previously sold to the wholesale market, about best practices and how to package and label their flowers for distribution to grocery. The grocery pilot was projected to include 300 cases of farmers’ market-style mixed bouquets each week through the growing season.

In addition to already sourcing local tulips, peonies and other key cut-flower crops from growers in Washington state, the new local-flowers grocery pilot is designed to help emerging and smaller flower farms bring unique and seasonal mixed bouquets to Northwest Grocers’ member stores, including Thriftway, Red Apple Markets and IGA chains, Allen added.