Cnn
–
Mother's Day is a busy season for American florists. But this year, there is an additional source of stress: the radical prices of President Donald Trump, which increase the prices of certain flowers and cause expenditure of certain buyers.
“We have to invoice more, and this definitively affects sales – which I get completely,” Hortengea Bloom told CNN Allison Krivachek in Tiffin, Iowa. “People just don't have the disposable income to which they were used to.”
Eighty percent of all cut flowers sold in the United States are imported from Colombia, Canada or Ecuador, according to the American department of agriculture. The majority of these flowers come from Colombia and Ecuador, where the growing climates all year support the floral industry. These countries are now faced with prices, which makes more expensive than their products in the United States.
And Mother's Day expenses fell 14% among American buyers, because many reveal the tariffs and economic concerns, according to a Lendingtree survey.
America imported approximately 2.26 billion dollars in fresh flowers in 2024, Colombia representing 60% of the market and the equator with 25%, According to data from US Census Bureau.
Debra Prinzing, founder of Slow Flowers Society and leading defender of American adult flowers, said that the American floral industry had been designed to rely on imports.
“I don't like it, but it's just reality,” Prinzing told CNN.
“Ridiculously different”, this is how Krivachek describes the rise in prices of this year. Flowers such as Lisianthus have doubled, said Krivachek, and roses are up 10% to 50% compared to last year. She thinks that price increases are higher than reflected in a 10%rate.
“It's really weird that there was such a jump because the prices are not so much. And I don't know if they increase their prices because of supply and demand,” she said.
As a result, it increased the price of its most popular Mother's Day arrangement from $ 100 to $ 125 this year. And despite the efforts to be transparent with customers, demand took a hit.
“We are a little down,” said Krivachek. “We are down approximately 30% in annual shift in this Mother's Day compared to other mothers.”
Many customers are now buying flowers to make their own arrangements, according to Krivachek.
The Society of American Fleurists has told CNN the florists and wholesalers through the country to adapt to new financial pressures – just as they did during the pandemic and other disturbances of the supply chain.
“Although prices and cost increases are not welcome, the floral industry is remarkably resilient,” the company told CNN in a statement.
Florists order products earlier, strengthening relations with producers and wholesalers and plan more in advance to manage costs, said the company.
While Krivachek felt the pressure, she found ways to adapt, for example in obtaining local flower producers.
“I'm always going to have to import flowers,” she said. “I am in Iowa, so there is not much variety, especially with weddings. There are certain flowers that you alone can get equator and Colombia. ”
