Guides
How to Compare Cut Flower Market, Florist and Subscription Channels by Left per Hour
A method for comparing cut flower market, florist and subscription channels by labor, cash timing and waste, with benchmarks, a worked example and a scoring method.
What to take away
- Rank channels by what is left per hour of work, not by price per stem. Cornell's channel study used sales per labor hour and profit margin as its two main yardsticks.
- Cornell's benchmark farms (fruit and vegetable growers, not flower growers) had a median of about $29 of sales per labor hour at farmers markets, $37 at farm stands and $32 for direct and wholesale channels overall. Top-quartile subscription (CSA) channels reached $80 or more.
- Utah State Extension says wholesale pays less than direct sales, and that grower cooperatives selling to florists take 30 to 40 percent of sales as a fee.
- In a 2022 Utah survey, 25 percent of florists wanted to source most of their flowers from local growers and another 54 percent wanted at least some, but most were unwilling to pay more than 10 percent extra for locally sourced product.
- Prepaid subscriptions remove unsold-stem risk but add a delivery promise. Farmers markets give same-day cash but add selling labor and weather risk.
- Test a new channel for a set period with a weekly cap, then expand only if the records support it.
What each channel asks of you
A sales channel is the whole route from harvest to payment. It includes grading, bunching, design, packing, travel, selling and paperwork. The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service sorts local outlets into four directory types that are useful as a first split: farmers markets (two or more farm vendors at a recurring location), CSAs (regular deliveries on an advance-paid subscription or membership), food hubs (businesses that aggregate and market products from several producers) and on-farm markets (sold from the farm or adjacent property).
Utah State University Extension's cut flower marketing overview describes the trade-offs:
- Farmers markets.Direct access to many customers, low start-up cost and immediate cash. The costs are heavy setup and selling labor, limited cooler and water access, weather that cuts turnout and competition from other growers. See the market stall guide.
- Florists and designers.One obstacle the overview names is florists' variable needs for flower varieties, often a result of large events requiring specific varieties or colors. It suggests giving florists product pictures and samples at first contact and keeping open communication about availability and anything, such as pests or weather, that may affect it. See working with local florists and wholesale florist expectations.
- Subscriptions and CSAs.Social media lets growers market these services effectively and economically and stay connected with an established consumer base, though with less face time than at a farmers market. Options include flowers as an add-on to a produce CSA, or weekly arrangements for restaurants, offices and similar businesses.
- Cooperatives and wholesale.At least three cooperatives sell to Utah florists, typically April through October, for 30 to 40 percent of sales. Wholesalers usually pay growers less than direct channels, and wholesale prices fluctuate with demand and with regional, national and international supply.
- U-pick.Less harvesting and prep labor than markets or CSAs, but risks of trampling, entry into off-limits areas and injury. The overview advises considering liability insurance.
What the benchmarks say
The only farm-level channel benchmarks found from a university are Cornell's Marketing Channel Assessment Tool results (Schmit and LeRoux, 2014). They come from 31 small and medium fruit and vegetable farms between 2008 and 2013, with 104 complete channel observations from a typical peak-season week. Treat them as a guide to the shape of the problem, not as flower numbers.
| Channel (Cornell sample) | Median profit margin | Median sales per labor hour |
|---|---|---|
| Farmers markets | 68% | $29 |
| Farm stands (10 observations) | 71% | $37 |
| CSAs | nearly 85% | top quartile at $80 or more |
| Direct channels overall | slightly above wholesale | about $32 |
| Wholesale channels overall | slightly below direct | about $32 |
Three points matter. First, farmers markets, the most common channel in the sample, scored lowest of the direct channels on both measures. Second, wholesale had a wider downside: some wholesale observations fell below 35 percent margin and below $15 per hour. Third, the authors think CSA numbers look strong partly because the time spent recruiting members was not fully captured in a typical peak week. The best farm stands in the sample were probably unstaffed.
The University of Tennessee's cut flower budgets (W1348) apply a similar logic to flowers. They assume marketing cost of 20 percent of gross sales, covering packaging, transport and promotion, and tell users to adjust it. Use that as a starting line, not a rule.
Worked example: about 1,000 stems in three channels
Every number below is an assumption chosen to show the method. Production cost is set at $0.30 per stem cut in each case. Put your own prices, hours and sell-through in.
| Line | Market stand | Florist account | Subscription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stems cut | 1,000 | 950 | 920 |
| Stems sold | 700 (70%) | 900 | 900 |
| Revenue | 700 at $1.00 = $700 | 900 at $0.70 = $630 | 60 boxes of 15 at $18 = $1,080 |
| Production cost | $300 | $285 | $276 |
| Channel cash costs | $40 booth + $20 travel | $15 fuel | $60 packaging + $30 delivery + $32 card fees |
| Left over | $340 | $330 | $682 |
| Channel hours | 8 | 3 | 9 |
| Left per hour | $42.50 | $110 | $76 |
How to read it. The market and the florist leave about the same total, but the florist route does it in far fewer hours because the order is known and there is no selling day. The subscription leaves the most in total because the price per stem includes design and delivery, but it carries 9 hours including 4 hours of sign-up and customer messages.
Now change one input. If only half the market stems sell (500), the market leaves $140 and $17.50 per hour. If florists reject 10 percent of a delivery, the florist line drops. A channel that looks best in the average week can look worst in a bad one. Record the weak weeks too.
Cash timing is not in the table. A market pays today. A subscription is paid before harvest. A florist invoice may be paid weeks later on the florist's terms. Write the payment terms down before the first delivery.
Score channels against your farm
Cornell's tool asks each farm to weight five measures from zero to one so the weights add to one: sales volume, profit margin, labor requirements, business risk and lifestyle preference. Across its sample the average weights were 0.24 for margin, 0.21 for labor, 0.20 for lifestyle, 0.19 for volume and 0.15 for risk. Each channel is ranked on each measure, and the weighted ranks give a final order.
Editorial suggestion: use the same five measures with 1 to 5 scores.
- Write the five measures down and give each a weight. A one-person farm with no cooler might weight labor at 0.35 and risk at 0.25.
- Score each channel from your own recordsleft per hour, total left, unsold share, weekly hours.
- Multiply and add. Do not let a high total hide a failure on a hard limit, such as no vehicle for a florist route.
- Pick one primary channel and one small backup. Add a third only when the first two run smoothly.
As a rough match to scale, also an editorial suggestion: a very small grower with no cooler tends to start with preorders, a subscription or one market, because they sell flowers within a day or two of cutting. A farm with a cooler, a vehicle and steady harvest can add a florist route, which turns harvest into a written list. Larger volume may justify wholesale or a cooperative, at the fees quoted above. The succession planting guide helps you plan steady supply for any of them.
Run a controlled test
For any new channel, write down a test period, the crops and a maximum weekly quantity, the service promise, the price and minimum order, how hours and mileage will be coded, a success threshold and a stop condition. Review it only when invoices, hours, unsold counts and buyer feedback are in. Then cost the result using the costing and pricing guide, which includes a worked ten-stem bunch.
Do not send the same limited stems to two promises. Decide which channel gets premium straight bunches and which gets mixed product. Do not undercut a florist with a comparable retail bunch at your own stand.
Sources
- [Cut FlowersMarkets and Marketing, Utah State University Extension](https://extension.usu.edu/apec/research/cut-flowers-markets-and-marketing)
In this guide
- Can a local cut flower grower win real florist accounts without discounting?Local cut flower growers can win florist accounts with a focused offer, accurate availability, samples, clear prices, dependable delivery, and prompt credits.
