Flower industry hit hard as coronavirus pandemic dries up business
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PostedApril 12, 2020
1of10More than $1 million worth of flowers was destroyed at the San Francisco Flower Mart last week as it prepared to close. Farmers are watching their livelihood wither on the vine.Photo: San Francisco Flower Mart On St. Patrick’s Day, San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin got a frantic phone call from Jeanne Boes, the general manager of the San Francisco Flower Mart. With the wholesale flower market about to be shuttered due to the coronavirus shutdown, said Boes, she and her colleagues had just 48 hours to destroy hundreds of thousands of flowers. She was scrambling to donate as many as possible — to senior centers, police stations, firehouses, friends and neighbors. Could Peskin come get some for City Hall? He and staffer Sunny Angulo jumped into Peskin’s Toyota Prius and drove over to Sixth and Brannan streets, where they found a 12-foot-high pile of flowers being mulched in the alleyway. “I put the seat down, backed the car up, and filled it with as many flowers as could fit,” said Peskin. “We went back to City Hall and walked up and down the hallways giving roses to everyone. It was incredibly moving and sad.” While the coronavirus-fueled layoffs and economic misery have permeated every corner of the Bay Area’s business community, the flower industry has been among the hardest hit. Flower shops and street kiosks — deemed nonessential — are closed. The lucrative spring season — typically a celebratory whirlwind of weddings, gala fundraisers, graduations — has been canceled. Imports from Holland, Ecuador and Colombia, responsible for 80% of the U.S. market, have slowed to a trickle. Farmers are watching their livelihood wither on the vine. The 118,000-square-foot San Francisco Flower Mart, home to 47 businesses and 350 workers, is dark until further notice. Vendors composted $750,000 to $1 million worth of flowers, Boes said. It’s hard to say how many of the tenants will survive the shutdown, especially if the crisis drags into the late spring. She said the mood was gloomy. “I watched many of my friends and colleagues leave in tears, wondering when we will come […]
