Another important aspect of providing dahlias as a successful market crop is how you approach marketing them. (Make sure to check out our other posts about best practices for long lasting blooms and recommended dahlias for market blooms.)From packaging to clearly communicating what you have available and when, to building relationships with buyers and merchandisers, this can be a complicated step. In talking with many growers, I’ve found that many of us are intimidated by this step, and can tend to neglect giving it the time it deserves, or even ignore it altogether. I’m here today to tell you: that is a mistake that will impede the growth of your business. Exactly how you market is up to you, but you need a solid plan for success.

Get the Word Out

If you’re not sure how to start, spend an hour brainstorming potential marketing plans and chose 2-3 to try. Eliminate the inertia and just work hard to get the word out about your beautiful product. Here are some potential ideas:

• cold calls with local florists
• setting up appointments with l local florists
• creating digital or cardstock-printed color cards as gifts for buyers so they have your dahlias right on their desks when they need to order
• sample buckets
• a sips+treats sunset field tour evening for buyers/florists in your area
• advertising on social media

Maintain Relationships

Once you begin to establish relationships, maintain them. Find out how your buyers want the dahlias to arrive (in a box with a barcode? Just in buckets? Bunched or loose? How many bunches per bucket?) Ask for quality feedback, but don’t be a doormat: do your homework to know the prices that are fair in your region, and price your product accordingly, never undercutting other growers. I’m a firm believer that a rising tide floats all boats. Choose a collaborative mindset over a competitive one whenever possible.

We used to flex more with each buyer’s demands, but we switched to only offering 8-pack buckets (meaning 8 bunches of dahlias per bucket), and we worked to make sure each bunch was about the same size and heft. (So if we were picking a pom like Chick-a-Dee then we’d need 8-10 stems, or for a smaller ball like Cornel Bronze or Rose Toscano we might need 6-7 stems, but a 3.5″ ball like Linda’s Baby needs 5 stems. Some varieties that are very durable didn’t always make our grocery cut simply because they were too big and could throw off our uniformity goals {All that Jazz, Bloomquist Jody Lynn or Alan, Castle Drive, Sweet Nathalie, Bacardi}.) Grocery buyers like to purchase products that have consistency (think rows of factory tomato sauce cans and glowing waxed produce), so we worked hard to train our crew to pick bunches that were a standard height and had roughly the same amount of foliage so that the weight (heft) felt uniform. For most of our mass merchandise customers, we did mix colors within the buckets (i.e. 2 orange bunches, 3 yellow bunches, 3 pink bunches), but some (especially floral wholesalers) liked getting solid color buckets.

Ask your contacts and do your best to meet their needs (without creating unnecessary work/headache for yourself!).