Why Are Supermarket Flowers (Nearly Always) Cheaper Than Locally Grown Flowers?
One question I'm occasionally asked is why locally grown flowers often cost more than flowers from the supermarket.
It's a fair question.
After all, if you can pick up a bunch of flowers while doing your weekly shop, why would you spend more on flowers from a local flower grower?
The answer isn't that one is right and the other is wrong. Supermarket flowers and locally grown flowers are simply produced in very different ways.
Supermarkets buy on a huge scale
Large supermarkets buy enormous quantities of flowers.
Growing, transporting and selling flowers at this scale allows costs to be spread across millions of stems. The result is that flowers can often be sold very cheaply.
In some cases, flowers are also used as "loss leaders" - products sold at very low prices to encourage customers into the store, where they'll hopefully buy lots of other items too. Small flower growers don't have that luxury. The flowers I sell need to cover the true cost of growing, harvesting and arranging them.
Locally grown flowers are usually grown in much smaller quantities
At Cicely Flowers, I grow dozens of different varieties throughout the season here in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire.
Rather than growing acres of a single flower, I grow smaller quantities of many different flowers to create natural, seasonal bouquets with lots of colour, texture and movement.
Growing this way creates beautiful flowers, but it isn't the most efficient way to produce large volumes of stems.
Every stem is harvested by hand
When you buy locally grown flowers, there is a lot of human care behind every bunch.
Seeds are sown by hand. Seedlings are planted by hand. Flowers are harvested by hand and conditioned carefully before being arranged into bouquets.
Many stems are cut specifically for that week's flower stand, pre-orders or wedding work.
It's a much more hands-on process than large-scale commercial flower production.
Freshness matters
One of the biggest differences between locally grown flowers and supermarket flowers is what happens after they're cut.
The flowers at Cicely Flowers are harvested by hand and placed straight into water. They're then conditioned carefully and often make it onto the flower stand within a day of being cut.
Many commercially grown flowers have a much longer journey ahead of them. They may be packed tightly into boxes, transported long distances and pass through several stages of the supply chain before reaching the customer. During that journey stems can be compressed, handled multiple times and stored for extended periods.
Many imported flowers are also treated to help them withstand long journeys and extended storage.
Locally grown flowers don't need to be grown with travel in mind — they only need to make the short journey from my flower plot in Bradford on Avon to your vase.
Because they spend less time travelling and handling, they retain all the movement, character and freshness that make seasonal flowers so special.
You're paying for something different
When you buy locally grown flowers, you're not simply buying flowers.
You're buying flowers that were grown seasonally, harvested by hand and arranged with care.
You're supporting a small business in Bradford on Avon.
You're helping to keep flower growing alive here in Wiltshire.
And you're receiving flowers that reflect the season and the place they were grown.
Is one better than the other?
Not necessarily.
Supermarket flowers are convenient, accessible and have introduced many people to the joy of having flowers in their homes.
But locally grown flowers offer something different.
They're fresher. More seasonal. Often more unusual. And there's a real person behind every bunch.
For many people, that's worth paying a little extra for.
If you'd like to experience the difference for yourself, you'll find fresh seasonal flowers on the Cicely Flowers flower stand every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Bradford on Avon, or you can reserve a bouquet in advance through the website.
Welcome to the Flower Stand - Freshly Picked, Locally Grown Blooms in Bradford on Avon
Thank you for supporting local flowers! My stand is stocked with freshly picked, seasonal flower bunches, grown right here in Bradford on Avon.
If you’re here at the flower stand, this is where you can pay for your flowers.
If you’d like the certainty of having a bunch reserved for you, you can pre-order using the Weekly Flower Bunch option.
Flower Stand Details:
Open: Friday, Saturday & Sunday throughout the growing season (February–November)
Payment: Self-serve, honesty-based system. Card (preferred) and cash accepted
Location: 8 Kingsfield Grange Road, Bradford on Avon, BA15 1BE (just off Woolley Terrace/Cemetery Lane)
Directions:You can find the flower stand on Google Maps here
Come enjoy the freshest local flowers for your home or as a gift, and thank you for supporting my small flower farm!