Why don’t you sell wholesale?

Why don’t you sell wholesale? Financial viability, logistics, and our business purpose. These are the main reasons. I've written reams working out this post, but I’m not really sure you need to know the detail. Martyn says “It’s your business, you can do what you like” and so technically I could end this here! However, I think the assumption that a flower farm should supply more than themselves is interesting. It's perhaps because there are a lot of micro growers trying to do it all, suggesting that it’s viable on a tiny scale (it’s not) and something all flower farms ‘do’.

Traditionally farms supply other businesses (butchers, dairies etc) and don’t sell to the consumer themselves so maybe this is a factor. Personally, I think more small farms should be looking at selling direct to customers, or at least reducing the supply chain they sell into, to remain viable in the future. With flowers the viability of selling wholesale is dependent on having enough land, sufficient labour, and enough customers in your location. Our location is a big issue: whilst we are in the milder part of Cumbria, good for growing, if you draw a circle with a 30mile radius from our field, three quarters is sea or isolated fellside. It’s not densely populated and travel times are long (especially behind a tractor!)

Labour too is problematic. I currently work full time around our kids, and so scaling up would require employing somebody else to grow enough of the right flowers to deliver across a huge area, after more investment on infrastructure. If I’m being totally honest, it is totally off putting! It’s just not what I want to do. I started with the joyful purpose of providing my community with beautiful, inspiring flowers. The environmental impact and benefits of local flowers motivates me a lot. I feel that I can make a small but vital difference selling sustainable flowers. This is what I enjoy. I have friends for whom growing incredible flowers and foliage for florists is their ‘purpose’, but for me it’s an overwhelming, anxiety inducing thought. And I really don’t want my work to be unenjoyable! So as it's my business I can and shall, as MrB says "do what I like"...

-Harriet x