2020 ... a year to be proud!
And that's a wrap ... well bar the shouting and that's probably someone who left it till the last minute and can’t understand why they can’t get exactly what they want on Christmas Eve!
Sales have been phenomenal ... across the board. Indeed many are saying that it’s been the best Christmas in years despite everything 2020 has thrown at us.
We watched in horror when the Dutch auctions crashed on Friday 13 March making UK Mother’s Day a roller coaster. We witnessed the second biggest global suppliers, Colombia and Ecuador, go into the harshest lock downs imaginable with many growers simply ploughing their fields to avoid further losses and which in turn impacted on US Mother's Day.
We saw shops across the world forced to work behind closed doors losing much needed walk in trade whilst wedding and events being postponed, shrunk, or cancelled has been heart breaking for everyone and had a major impact on so many.
As for ending the year with a global shortage of flowers and the Calais port closing! Well that was just another 'seat of the pants' moment to deal with as every effort was made to get stock into the UK in time for Christmas with just hours to spare!!! I have no idea how many pairs of BGK/BBP’s** have been worn this year but I reckon it’s a lot!
However, what could have brought the industry to its knees hasn’t and won’t.
It hasn’t been easy (probably the understatement sentence of the year!), there have and will continue to be business casualties and there are going to be more rocky roads ahead as this virus continues its grip on the world with yet more draconian measures in every country to try and stop it in its tracks.
But whilst this may be tiering us apart never mind causing us to tier our hair out and there have been many a tier before bedtime I am quietly confident it won’t end in tiers ... sorry had to use all the dreadful tier jokes up somewhere!
You see not only has the sector been far luckier than many given pretty much all of it could work behind closed doors, but in many ways the flower industry has benefited.
The very fact we sell a product that is not only scientifically proven to improve mental wellbeing but can say anything and everything to people when they can’t be together has given our industry an incredible boost as more people than ever discovered Flower Power and Plant Therapy
That this will carry on I have no doubt. Not least because of the incredible ... some might say completely barking mad ... determination of everyone who together makes the floricultural industry what it is. From grower to exporter, delivery firms to wholesaler, florists to online players ... EVERYONE throughout the flower and plant world has held and pulled it together in the most amazing way.
As you shut the doors and take some much needed chill time for yourselves I reckon everyone should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved over the last few months. I am certainly proud to be part of such an awesome industry.
Take care, keep safe and enjoy the holidays as much as possible. I'll see you after I have finished a rather large box of chocolates!!
Caroline Marshall-Foster
Editor
