Although the inflation rate declined reaching an acceptable levels in 2024, domestic households still have a significant price increase in mind. The entire year of 2024 was marked by the accumulation of financial resources and the renewal of depleted savings by the Polish households. This was reflected in the turnover of florists, who in vast majority complained about the stagnation on the market. At the same time, a new flower initiative appeared on the market, which may herald a reversal of this trend.
Although Poland is very focused on novelties from the world of flowers and local importers are eager to search for novelties to import them for their customers, for the first time in several years there was a shortage of interesting flowers by wholesalers. It was a kind of vicious circle: florists were afraid to buy larger quantities of flowers for flower shops, which meant that wholesalers were afraid to invest in larger orders for their customers.
Supermarkets
At the same time, supermarkets regularly expand their offer of flowers and seasonal plants for customers, gradually pushing florists out of the market for plants such as the sale of poinsettias, hydrangeas, or simple flower beds in the Summer.
Division of the market
On one hand, this forces florists to educate themselves and further professionalize their offer, in order to distinguish themselves noticeably from the supermarket offer. It also divides customers into less affluent ones, who will use the supermarket offer, and those with a more affluent wallet, who will go to the flower shop to purchase flowers. Unfortunately, there are fewer customers of flower shops, so it is already known that the number of florists will also decrease over time.
The professionalization of the industry can already be seen today: more and more florists are not only eager to follow the novelties on the market of producers or the achievements of the industry in other countries. For several seasons, there has been a clear interest of florists in foreign floristic fairs. During the fairs in Germany or the Netherlands, many Polish florists decide to close their flower shops and go there themselves to personally find new flower products or be inspired by new floral trends.
Consequences
However, the advantage of this trend on the market will be the desire of florists to distinguish themselves from the offer of retail chains. Professional florists, apart from the obvious investments in education, will certainly continue to look for interesting plants and excellent quality floral material to show their advantage over mass products from the supermarket. This is an excellent opportunity for producers of delicate flowers such as clematis, gloriosa or peony, which have no chance of defending themselves on the store shelf, but at the same time their etherealness presents itself beautifully in a unique floral bouquet.
Sales
The sale of flowers in Poland and import from foreign markets is growing year by year. Not only in value terms – which is caused by both rising production costs and still increased inflation in Poland. Export data indicate that the sales of flowers and plants in Poland are also growing in terms of quantity. This means that plants and flowers have become a permanent fixture in Polish homes and that they are an integral part of their home expenses. This trend can only be encouraging.
Flower festivals
Flower festivals are very popular in Poland, and have been a permanent fixture in florists’ calendars for several or even a dozen years. This form of flower presentation allows flower shop customers to become familiar with the diversity of flower varieties used in professional floristry in Poland.
The opening of another event is announced for next year, which will be an international floristry competition, but at the same time a great opportunity to sensitize festival visitors to floristry of the highest standards.