Washington state is home to many small-scale, specialty cut flower growers, and diversified farms with both food and floral crops. Many cut flower growers utilize direct marketing channels, such as farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), roadside stands, and on-farm sales (you-pick operations). Direct marketing allows growers to receive the full retail price rather than wholesaling to another business, such as a retail florist or grocery store. Farmers markets are a popular direct-marketing channel for many cut flower growers because they offer a ready supply of customers, coordinated marketing, and relatively low retail costs compared to brick-and-mortar stores. It can be difficult for cut flower growers to determine what price to charge for their products. Price is usually based on cost of production and market conditions. Several sources, including the USDA, report cut flower prices that are largely based on the price of cut flower imports (USDA AMS). The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers provides its members with a pricing guide based on values reported by members across the county. While these are helpful reference points, prices can vary widely by product, local conditions, and marketing channel. The goal of this research was to document and analyze the prices of cut flowers sold at farmers markets. The pricing study results are intended to help cut flower growers evaluate farmers markets as a direct marketing channel and to assess their bouquet composition and pricing strategies.
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Details
Title
Cut flower prices at farmers markets : a bouquet pricing study
Creators
Jennifer R. Connolly (Author)
Vicki McCracken (Author)
Academic Unit
Publications, WSU Extension
Series
Technical Bulletin (Washington State University. Extension); 13
Publisher
Washington State University Extension; Pullman, Washington
Identifiers
99900502006701842
Copyright
In copyright ; openAccess ; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ ; http://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccess