Blooming Market: How Social Media and the Pandemic Helped US Flower Growers

In early April, the highly anticipated Tiny Hearts store opened in Hillsdale, New York. Buckets of raspberry buttercups and tall willow twigs were lined up along the walls, waiting for buyers from the surrounding area. The potted windmills are deep indigo and sky blue grey, grown just a short drive from here in Copac.

Like many other American businesses, the store was closed while the pandemic raged. Meanwhile, owners Luke Franco and Jenny Elliott were trying to figure out what to do with the 40,000 tulips that were grown in October 2019 and landed in a world where weddings and baby showers were replaced by a few Zoom events, and bouquets remained relevant only in the form of cryptographic tokens.

Prior to these events, the future of the company seemed very bright. Local farmers have slowly made their way into the flower market, which is a multibillion-dollar industry with complex supply chains: flowers transit Holland before reaching the US from Africa. While 80% of cut flowers purchased in the U.S. are still imported specimens, the home segment of the floriculture industry grew by 9% to $4.77 billion from 2015 to 2018. The number of growers increased over the same period, according to the USDA. period by 8%.