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! 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. 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.