Floral Industry Fact Sheet
California Cut Flower Fact Sheet
Updated January 2007
Click here to download a pdf copy.
- Approximately 275 California growers market cut flowers ($289 million) and cut foliage ($27 million) valued at $316 million annually. While there are a number of very large cut flower producers, many operate smaller, family run nurseries located along the California coast.
- Approximately 73% of all domestically grown, commercially sold, cut flowers are produced in California. Total domestic production of cut flowers was $396 million in 2005.
- Approximately 5,000 acres are devoted to commercial growing of fresh cut flowers in California. This includes more than 38 million sq.ft of greenhouse area, 200 acres of shade cloth, and 4,000 acres of outdoor fields.
- In a 2006 survey California supplied more than 173 million stems of roses, 66 million stems of lilies, 72 million stems of iris, 77 million stems of Gerbera, 26 million stems of callas, 27 million stems of stock and 59 millions stems of tulips, plus millions of stems of other specialty cut flowers and foliages.
- Roses continue to be the single most popular fresh cut flower with consumers. Approximately 1.3 billion stems of roses are bought each year.
- Nearly 189 million stems of roses are bought in the USA just for Valentine's Day gift giving.
- Currently California supplies approximately 26% of all cut flowers sold in the United States. Imported cut flowers and greens account for some 65% of the total US supply. (Note: does not include cut foliage.) For certain crops, such as carnations and chrysanthemums, California's marketshare drops to less than 5%. California's marketshare for roses is 10%.
- Nearly one half of all California grown fresh cut flowers are distributed to wholesale and retail customers outside of the state.
- Consumers purchased an estimated $17 billion of floral items (including artificial blooms, potted and flowering houseplants, outdoor bedding/garden plants and related items) in 2005.
- On an annual basis, 30% of US households make a purchase of fresh cut flowers; 34% buy bedding/garden plants; 20% buy flowering houseplant and 12% buy green houseplants, while just 10% buy an artificial or dried product.
- Per household consumption of all floriculture crops is $56. Per household consumption of fresh cut flowers is near $10.
|
- Where are people buying flowers? One half of all purchases of arranged flowers are made through a retail florist shop. Only 10% of purchases of loose, or unarranged flowers are made at a retail florist.
- Who is purchasing fresh cut flowers? The typical profile is female, between the ages of 45 - 54, college educated, employed full time, with a household income exceeding $75,000.
- Traditional retail florists' sales in 2005 were approximately $8.2 billion. The balance of the market volume moved through supermarkets and other outlets.
- The nation's 20,300 retail florists averaged $406,300 per shop annual sales in 2005.
- Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day and December accounted for about 39% of traditional retail florists' business in 2005.
- There are some 23,000 supermarkets and mass/discount outlets selling fresh cut flowers in the United States.
- The average price of a floral arrangement purchased at a retail florist is $44.50.
- Women prefer flowers in softer pastel colors (pale pink and pale purple top the list), while men tend to choose flowers with bold, primary colors, like red.
- According to the nation's florists, secretaries are the number one recipient of floral gifts in offices. Bosses, they say, are the least likely to receive a gift of fresh flowers.
- California's dominance of the domestic cut flower industry is due to its favorable climate, which allows for year-round production of an enormous variety of flowers and cut greens.
- Many growers pre-cool boxed flowers before shipping. This prevents heat buildup and premature decay.
- U.S. growers use both truck and air transport for moving flowers. An estimated 80% of domestic flowers are transported by refrigerated truck.
- Transit times for California flowers vary. A rose grown in Watsonville, California could reach a New York florist in as little as 24 hours if shipped by overnight air.
- Many cut flower varieties can be successfully dry stored at near-freezing temperatures for several days to slow down their natural maturing process. When brought back to room temperature, they begin again the maturing process. However, many California flowers are shipped to wholesale florists in water to reduce stress on the flower.
|
