Over a thousand rejects of flowers destroyed; florist says they can still hold on, but the ones suffering are the flower farmers

 

 

During the pandemic prevention period, fresh flowers cannot wait for the outbreak to ease. Jing Zhiming, the second-generation head of Yongjin Flowers, said over 100,000 yuan worth of flowers were thrown away in a month, but he feels even more for the flower farmers who lost everything. Photo by Chen Zhiyuan

Image source: Apple Daily News

"This year is the year the most flowers have been thrown away, I have never seen anything so terrifying!" said Jing Zhiming, the second-generation head of Yongjin Flowers. Growing up following his parents as they went from flower farmers to flower wholesalers, in over 30 years he had never seen such brutal flower discarding. Even through a mask, you could feel from his tone the regret over the severe impact the pandemic has brought to the flower market and flower farmers.

 

Flowers all have a shelf life; if they are not sold within 3~7 days, they go into the trash. The pandemic came fast and hard. As soon as the government announced entry into Level 3 pandemic prevention, foot traffic at the flower market immediately dropped by more than 80%. "Last year business dropped 50%, this year is even worse, down 80~90% at once. After the morning flower wholesale came in, I just sat there until closing time, no customers came at all, and revenue went straight to 0."

 

Heartache, all the flower farmers' hard work wasted

With no customers, the flower market was still required to open for business. The shelf life of flowers cannot wait for the pandemic to pass. In one week, about 80% or more of the flowers could not be sold and could only be thrown away. "Adding it up this month, over 100,000 yuan worth of flowers were thrown away." Exclaiming that this sum is not small, Jing Zhiming said what really breaks his heart is still the flower farmers at the very front end.

With no customers, wholesalers are unwilling to buy stock. For the fresh flowers the flower farmers harvested, even when the price was called down to the floor at the early morning wholesale market, wholesalers still did not dare make a move. Batch after batch of fresh flowers were pulled off the conveyor belt, and their next fate was to have the fresh "rejects" dumped box by box into the trash. He said with emotion, "Thousands of bundles, tens of thousands of flowers thrown away, it really is painful to watch." As a descendant of Houli flower farmers, he could empathize even more with the flower farmers' suffering. "We can still get through it. The truly pitiful ones are the flower farmers. If no one buys the flowers, they really lose everything, they cannot get a single cent, and months of farming effort are all wasted."

⟦NL> As for so-called "rejects," they refer to fresh flowers that have fallen to the floor price at the auction house but still have no buyer and are about to go into the garbage truck. Once flowers become "rejects" at the auction house, the flower farmers not only cannot get a single cent, they cannot even take the flowers back. It is a true total loss.

 

An online reversal to survive

As a second-generation successor who also studied marketing, he quickly looked for a chance to turn things around, hoping to sell flowers as much as possible and reduce rejects to a minimum. In fact, Yongjin Flowers had already set up a website 4 years earlier, but because the physical stall had a fixed customer base, consumers were not in the habit of placing orders online. So before the pandemic, online orders were sporadic, about 2~3 orders a week. But pushed along by the pandemic, orders suddenly increased to more than 100 in a single week, and business even surpassed the previous in-person revenue. "It counts as an unexpected gain, and many people only now realize that flowers can also be bought wholesale online." Now the online business is doing well, and for goods others dare not buy, he simply buys them himself to help sell them.

 

Fresh flowers cannot wait for the pandemic

The online business gradually improved, partly thanks to "flower material packs," a configuration similar to a vegetable box, providing main flowers, filler flowers, foliage, and so on. After consumers receive them, they can mix and match as they like. But when it comes to selling flower material packs, Jing Zhiming actually felt some inner conflict. "Flower shops may have something to say, but fresh flowers cannot wait for the pandemic. Every time flowers are thrown away it really feels like bleeding. The cost of every bundle of flowers thrown away requires selling more than 5 bundles of flowers to cover."

The floral industry has seen a bit of chaos during the pandemic. Production areas also began selling flower material packs, and even flower shops went directly to production areas to buy flowers. As for the chaotic market, he optimistically believes it is only a transitional period. "After the pandemic, the market will still return to its original mechanism. After all, weddings, funerals, and celebrations still make up the majority of the floral market. When people have needs, they will still go to flower shops with skills and the ability to help with packaging to buy flowers."

 

After the pandemic, buying flowers may become more online-based

Recently the pandemic has eased, and Jing Zhiming also feels that the physical stall's business is gradually returning. But he said that after the pandemic, consumption habits and sales methods may change. Quite a few florists have begun running online operations and communities, and in the future buying flowers may become more online-based.

Having grown up among piles of flowers since childhood, he has no Platonic love for flowers. He said in a down-to-earth way, "Flowers are luxury goods, not daily necessities. You will not die without arranging flowers! But they can be spiritual nourishment. A bouquet, or even just a single small flower, can bring a different vitality to life."