PRESS RELEASE | New York - December 1, 2020 BIG MOVE: TOP-MANAGER TOP 10 U.S. WHOLESALER JOINS DISRUPTIVE ONLINE MARKETPLACE IBUYFLOWERS.COM Michael Weinmeyer has been appointed the new Sales Director USA for iBuyFlowers. His addition to the team stresses the ambitions of the online fresh flower marketplace. Weinmeyer is eager to meet iBuyFlowers' ambition to realize a 70 to 100 percent growth in both sales and customers over the next few years. Weinmeyer brings more than twenty years of knowhow and experience in the flower business and has got a large professional floral network. The last 15 years he worked as a Sales Manager for Koehler & Dramm Wholesale florist, one of the larger high-volume wholesale houses in the US. Weinmeyer was manager of 20 sales people. The main reason for his move from a top 10 wholesaler to an online marketplace lies in the break of the traditional wholesale chain and the road to digital transformation. Michael Weinmeyer: I have a passion for the business, I love sales and flowers. iBuyFlowers represents the future of this industry. The old fashion style wholesale houses are unable or unwilling to adapt to the constantly changing landscape of the floral industry. I know and understand today's customers' needs and wants in the market - iBuyFlowers makes it easy to accommodate these needs. The added mainstream distribution, low cost to customer and vast inventory made my decision to join the iBuyFlowers team an easy one. Weinmeyer will be managing the sales team from Minnesota, with a strong focus on improving the service to large customers. About iBuyFlowers iBuyFlowers is an online floral startup, founded by Wilfred de Wit. In 2017, he started to ship flowers from more than 40 farms directly to florists, wedding & event planners and venues in the USA. His promise: fresher flowers straight from the growers for better prices than the traditional floral chain can offer. Now iBuyFlowers sells over 2,500 flower varieties year-round at secured prices to more than 1,500 satisfied customers and delivers 5 days a week to their doorstep within 24-72 hours (depending on the country of origin). Michael Weinmeyer iBuyFlowers LLC | 228 East 45th Street, Suite 9E | New York | NY 10017 | USA Tel: +(1) 844-428-9100 | info@ibuyflowers.com |www.ibuyflowers.com
Despite of everything, the 2020 edition of Mother’s Day has been a great success (also look for the inspirational Mother’s Day video in this post 😉💐). Mothers all over America were pampered and showered with our favorite thing in the world: flowers! But what types of flowers were most popular? Did florists swear by roses or carnations? Did mothers from New York get more Ruscus than the mothers in South Carolina? And which states loved the bouquets that were pre-assembled by our growers? In this article, we’ll talk you through some of our Mother’s Day 2020 fun facts and figures. You can use this information to learn more about the way other florists work, and, of course, to optimize your shopping list for next year’s Mother’s Day flowers! TOP 3 ROSES Let’s start with the all-time Mother’s Day favorite: roses. On our platform, these were the most popular ones in 2020: Freedom: this deep red rose is the most widely produced red rose in South America (and we all understand why). La Playa Blanca: this white rose, named after the Spanish island of Lanzarote, was purchased for many mothers throughout the country. Quicksand: this dreamy soft-pinkish rose is friendlier than its name suggests and was also wildly popular this year. MOM’S FAVORITE COLORS Florists know mothers! These colors were ordered en masse: White Purple Peach Pink TOP 5 FLOWERS Every mother is unique, but so is every Mother’s Day! When we compare this year’s top 5 flowers to those from last year, we see many new names: TOP 5 FLOWERS IN 2019 Roses Spray Roses Carnations Ranunculus Garden Roses TOP 5 FLOWERS IN 2020 Roses Chrysanthemum Peonies Lisianthus Ranunculus POPULAR FLOWERS PER STATE This section is probably most interesting to florists. Because as it turns out, there are quite some differences between states when it comes to popular flowers. Below, you’ll find a list of 10 popular flower varieties along with the florists that loved them most*: 1 2 3 Roses Ohio Massachusetts Missouri Carnations California Indiana Kansas Ranunculus North Carolina Alabama California Spray roses Texas Washington Mississippi Garden roses Alabama North Carolina Tennessee Ruscus New York Illinois Minnesota Anemone Mississippi California Florida Eucalyptus Iowa Alaska Illinois Stock Oregon Kansas Oklahoma *Can’t find your state? Contact us and we’ll provide you with some extra data! TOP 3 FLOWERS PER STATE Let’s talk about state differences some more. As you can see in the table below, not all states love roses best. These are small details that you can use to your advantage, next time you’re shopping for Mother’s Day flowers. 1 2 3 New York Carnations Roses Ruscus Texas Roses Spray roses Ranunculus California Roses Carnations Ranunculus Oregon Roses Carnations Alstroemeria South Carolina Roses Ruscus Ranunculus THE BOUQUET STATES At iBuyFlowers, we mostly offer flowers per bunch or “box”. This way, florists have all the freedom to come up with creations that match their personal style. However, we’ve noticed an increased demand for bouquets that are ready to go. This is not surprising, as many florists can’t be in their shops because of COVID-19, meaning they need to come up with clever solutions. Below you’ll find the top 3 states in which bouquets were most popular: Illinois North Carolina Oregon YOU MADE MOTHER’S DAY 2020 A SUCCESS! These are difficult times for the flower industry, and we’re happy that we’ve been able to deliver so many Mother’s Day flowers to our customers. As you can see in the video below, our customers turned our flowers into the most beautiful Mother’s Day gifts- well done everyone! We’re also very proud of our growers, who provide American florists with the freshest of flowers now that availability is not a given. As for ourselves, we’ll continue to help you to stock up on farm-fresh flowers- whenever and wherever you need them. Want to select fresh flowers for next week?
Decades of experience in the floral industry, including work in a variety of segments and on multiple continents, provided Wilfred de Wit with numerous contacts and rich institutional knowledge that he used to create an innovative flower sourcing company — one that is still operating full steam amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016, de Wit founded iBuyFlowers.com, a B2B venture that directly connects florists and event planners with more than 40 flower growers in five countries, offering more than 4,500 different varieties. “Our industry demands more understanding of products’ origin,” he said. “Our customers want to know the person behind the flowers.” With his business model, customers can see what’s available from a specific grower and select which flowers they want, resulting in farm fresh flowers. “There’s 100 percent transparency in where the flowers come from and when they were packed and shipped,” de Wit said. “Florists’ and event planners’ orders of fresh flowers are delivered to their doorstep within four days of being picked. ”Additionally, because de Wit has no physical inventory, he can leverage low overhead costs. “This allows for lower prices for those who use our platform,” he said. All prices include shipping through FedEx. Delivery occurs five days a week, “and every order is overseen by a dedicated account manager in case people need assistance, for a personal touch,” he added. Prior to launching iBuyFlowers.com, de Wit worked for Holex in the Netherlands, Sun Valley Farms in Arcata, California, and Grupo Arbusta in Quito. He also co-owned an Ecuadorean farm specializing in irises and lilies and briefly ran an Internet company that sold flower bulbs. “I have seen the industry from the point of view of a grower, wholesaler and importer,” he said. “I know what I’m doing and have excellent relationships with many, many growers.” During the crisis, we were faced with the decision to close the store, because we couldn’t find product, or take a leap of faith and try iBuyFlowers.com. The flowers were fresh and beautiful — they exceeded my expectations. And the customer service was excellent Alejandra Lucci East Hampton Florist Inc Deep roots, innovative solutions De Wit’s floral roots actually extend to childhood. His father, Nic de Wit, was a Dutch tulip and lily grower — the first to use a commercial windmill to produce electricity and one of the first to use robotics to plant, stack and unstack boxes. “He was always thinking two steps ahead of everyone else,” he said. “He taught me that, if something is not working well, keep making changes until it finally does and to never give up.” In his long career, de Wit has encountered plenty of obstacles. “Every day brings a new challenge,” he said. “I have dealt with climate changes, roadblocks in Latin America and strikes, for example. COVID-19 is just the latest one.” Our industry demands more understanding of products’ origin. Our customers want to know the person behind the flowers Wilfred de Wit, iBuyFlowers.com With his ability to connect people, de Wit is confident iBuyFlowers.com will help floral professionals continue their businesses in this trying time. “It’s devastating to see images of beautiful flowers turned to waste because farmers were unable to sell them. We want to avoid that,” he said. He’s eager — and ready — to introduce his 40-plus grower contacts with florists struggling to access flowers from traditional channels who could also benefit from his discounted prices. Since 2017, iBuyFlowers.com has served more than 1,000 florists, wedding and event planners that buy on a regular basis. Customers have the option to buy in bulk or mix and match their boxes by the bunch per farm. De Wit also maintains a blog on iBuyFlowers.com, where he shares flower trends, news and business ideas during the health crisis, such as setting up drive-through shopping windows or hosting online flower workshops for kids. “Standing united and sharing stories of creativity will pull us through the current landscape,” he said. Source: Article originally published in Flower Management Magazine April/May 2020 edition of the Society of American Florists.
To create the best online B2B fresh flowers marketplace we’ve been gathering feedback from US florists and wedding & event planners. What do they like about our marketplace? What would they like to see differently? And which features would they like to add? We used this feedback to make a lot of optimizations that make online flower sourcing fast and simple. In this blog, we’ll share 5 highlights of our improved Flowers marketplace ! 1.FIND THE FLOWERS YOU NEED, FAST With 4000+ flowers in our online marketplace, it’s important that you can easily find the flowers you’re looking for. Our improved search function is designed in a way that you can quickly find the flower varieties you need, regardless how you spell their names. Second, we used feedback from florists and wedding & event planners to improve the navigation bar and filters. Discover our improved marketplace » 2.BEST PERSONAL DEAL, AUTOMATICALLY From now on, we automatically calculate the best deal for you, based on the live inventory and prices of our 40+ growers, custom clearance, and FedEx delivery costs. We present the best deal in your check out, so you don’t have to go and search for the best options yourself. Discover our improved marketplace and your personal deals » 3.MOBILE FIRST We discovered that many of our customers shop flowers on their mobile phone instead of their computer or laptop. Therefore, we redesigned our website and made it mobile first. This means you can now use our marketplace on your mobile phone- without having to download the app. Try out the new mobile responsive marketplace » 4.SEASONAL INSIGHTS & SUBSTITUTES Being a flower expert, you know that not all flowers are available throughout the year. But as we offer flowers from 40+ growers all around the world, how do you know which flowers are available at which grower? In our new marketplace, we show you the flower variety availability for your delivery date upfront, along with a visual calendar that indicates the availability throughout the year. Also, you’ll find the best substitutes for each flower variety, so you no longer have to worry about which alternative to source. For example Garden roses ! Discover this new feature yourself » 5. HELPFUL CHECK-OUT THAT PUTS YOU IN CONTROL When you’re at the check-out, you want to be in full control. Therefore, you’ll get a clear overview of the varieties and delivery dates, and you’re able to adjust amounts and complement half-empty boxes without leaving the check-out. Discover what ‘in control’ means in our new marketplace » WHAT’S NEXT? We’re proud to have added and improved the features mentioned above. But we’re far from done! The upcoming months are packed with optimizations that will make our marketplace even better. As our customers know best, we’d love to hear your feedback and requests! iBuyFlowers.com is an online marketplace where US florists and wedding & event planners source their flowers directly from 40+ growers. Read more about our mission here.
María Paula Córdoba talks about Alexandra Farms and their road to international success. Every grower has an interesting story to tell. They all have a method, style and vision of their own, resulting in a wide variety of flowers, quantity and clientele. But sometimes, a grower’s story is more of a fairytale. Take Alexandra Farms, for example. Passionate as they are about garden roses, they’ve always gone above and beyond to grow the highest quality fresh cut varieties money can get you. But it hasn’t always been easy, as the company had to work really hard to get where they are now. How did this Colombian grower grow to become the most prominent garden rose grower in the world? María Paula Córdoba was so kind to give iBuyFlowers a glimpse behind the scenes of this remarkable business. So many customers were asking for garden roses- but nobody grew them! A story about a father and his daughter The story of Alexandra Farms starts with a father named Jose Azout (“Joey”). He had worked in the flower business for a long time and traveled the world to learn about flower varieties and flower designs. He found out that growers didn’t always grow what customers needed them to grow. “A lot of people were asking for garden roses, but nobody grew them!” María says. Joey decided to take matters in his own hands and set up his own garden rose company. He named the business after his two-year old daughter Alexandra and started experimenting. As it turned out, garden roses were amazing wedding roses, so Joey decided to focus on events. As the company grew, he took on board people that were as passionate about garden roses as he was. One of them was María. Hired on passion “I vividly recall the first day I ever saw a garden rose,” María Paula Córdoba says. “It was on a flower fair in Berlin, and it swept me off my feet. I just couldn’t believe my eyes!” Years later, in 2013, she ran into Joey, who recognized her passion for flowers and hired her on the spot. “He asked me to become his sales manager in the middle of a supermarket, and I believe I accepted the offer the same day”. María had already gained quite some experience in both the flower industry and in sales, but she had never worked with garden roses before. “It didn’t matter,” she explains, “as Joey was looking for passion rather than certificates. It was a great match from the very beginning.” Small company turns into David Austin ambassador Back in 2013, Alexandra Farms was still very small. “We must have had no more than two hectares,” María says. “I remember Joey wanted to sell David Austin garden roses, but we couldn’t get on the program because we were too small.” Luckily, Joey didn’t give up the fight and used all of his charm to win over David Austin. It worked: Alexandra Farms got the license and was allowed to sell the world’s best garden roses. “That license marks a very important moment in the story of Alexandra Farms,” María says. “There was and still is a high demand for garden roses, especially for high quality varieties such as David Austin. The license got us some extra publicity and allowed us to further expand our business. We take the best garden roses of the whole world and bring them home. International R&D Today, Alexandra Farms sells garden roses exclusively. “It’s what we’re good at,” María explains, “and the high demand allows us to specialize.” All roses are grown at their farm in Colombia, but the breeders live all around the world. “Each breeder has different unique selling points,” María explains. “There’s one in France that specializes in fragrance, and in Japan there are growers that focus on exclusive shades*. Basically, we take the best garden roses of the whole world and bring them home.” Together with breeders, Joey and his team also work on the selecting of new, unique garden rose varieties. “We focus on beauty, vase life, fragrance and originality,” María explains. “But we also want to know how certain varieties develop in specific countries. After all, we sell to customers in many different countries and different cultures, and they all should get the best possible garden rose experience.” * Great examples are the highly exclusive Princess Maya (which means night rain), Princess Miyuki (which means first snow) and garden roses by the Japanese grower Wabara. Getting more out of garden roses Alexandra Farms may be largest licensed David Austin seller in the world; they still highly value customer intimacy. “Garden roses are beautiful, but they need the be treated differently compared to other flower varieties,” María explains. “When your garden roses are delivered, they’re closed. They’ll open around four days later, right when you need them for your event. However, if you don’t know about this delay, it’s very easy to get scared.” This is why Alexandra Farms spends a lot of time and effort in educating their customers. “We offer information on our website, but we also collaborate with designers all over the world,” María says. “European Master Class is one of our partners. They teach our customers how to use our garden roses, so they really get to shine on their events. Brilliant, as this way, our customers get the most out of our flowers.” A grower's favorite flower When asked about her favorite garden rose, María doesn’t have to think long. “I literally have a new favorite every week,” she says laughing. “At the moment it’s the Miyabi rose. The first days, it had these hot pink shades, but yesterday it started to fade into a lovely peach color. It’s like magic!” María’s passion for garden roses is typical for all members of the Alexandra Farms team. It’s also what makes them so successful, as their passion, curiosity and innovativeness are equally disarmingly charming and contagious. David Austin was right to license this Colombian garden rose grower, as they sure did him proud. As for iBuyFlowers, we couldn’t be happier to have Alexandra Farms on our grower squad, and we strongly advise you to keep an eye on them! Want to discover our Alexandra Farms assortment? Start shopping roses.