Open Flower Network: Starting up & scaling

Intro to Cut Flower pricing

Jan 13, 2025

Pricing is a crucial aspect of running any successful business. It’s also a tricky one for many flower farmers, who have told us they struggle to determine the right price for products. In this post, we’ll discuss the challenge of determining fair and competitive prices, and share our 2024 pricing data as a starting point for Canadian growers.

Pricing Strategies and Factors

Deciding the right pricing for your farm is a complex process. You can use a number of strategies to help.

  • Work out your cost of production.
  • Talk to other farmers in your area. It’s also worth visiting other markets or farm stands in your area to compare the pricing and quality of your offerings.
  • Subscribe to wholesale/ distributor lists.
  • Consider what you would be willing to pay.

Beyond that, you will need to consider a number of factors in order to set appropriate prices, including: 

  • your location and local demographics
  • the market/channel of sales
  • the season
  • the quality and quantity of stems
  • your business model and the size of your farm
  • the amount of time you invest in flower design or other services. 

2024 pricing Data for canadian growers

To give specialty cut flower growers an overview of the sector, and a starting point for their own pricing, we have compiled a list of the 140 most popular flower products sold through 7 online marketplaces (or ‘flower hubs’) on the OFN platform. For each flower type, we have included the lowest, highest and average price per stem, as well as the percentage of total sales that flower type represents. 

The prices listed in this spreadsheet represent the prices paid by designers and florists who purchased flowers through an online marketplace in 2024. These prices have been pooled for the entire season, across hubs in cities and towns in Alberta and Ontario, and across a range of flower types and quality characteristics. This gives us a very robust set of prices for farmers to use as a starting point for setting prices. 

What’s inside

  1. Downloadable spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Excel format
  2. Pooled pricing data for 140 flower products with min, max and average prices
  3. Total and percentage sold for each product to see relative popularity

While we can’t give you specific prices without understanding your situation, this video and the following guidelines will help you use the 2024 price data effectively.

Step 1: Calculate the total ‘Flower Cost’

Whether you are selling wholesale or retail, the first step in determining how much to charge is to calculate the ‘flower cost’. This is simply the cost of the flowers in your product, whether you’re creating bouquets, arrangements, or selling individual stems. To do this:

  1. List the quantities of all stems in your product: 
  2. Choose a price point: Consider the minimum, average, and maximum price for each flower type, then set a point that reflects your market, quality and volume. For most situations, the average price will give you an accurate reflection of what a high-quality stem is worth and is a good place to start. 
  3. Add up the prices: Once you’ve applied the price per stem to each variety in your product, add the costs together to determine the total ‘raw’ flower cost.

Step 2: Apply a Multiplication Factor

Once you have your flower cost, you’ll need to apply a multiplication factor based on what you’re selling and the experience you’re offering to your customers. Multiplication factors can vary considerably across markets, but some common situations are described below.

Wholesale Pricing

For wholesale sales, such as bulk orders or sales to florists, you don’t need to apply an additional markup to your raw flower cost. Choose a price from the range given in the spreadsheet, depending on factors like quality and volume. If you’re selling large quantities to flower shops, it’s often better to lean toward the lower end of the price range. However, if you’re selling smaller quantities, like a few bunches to a designer, the average price per stem can be an appropriate choice.

Design Factor

If you’re selling market bunches, subscription bouquets, or bouquets at your farm stand, you will generally want to choose a multiplication factor of 1.5 to 2.0. This modest markup on the wholesale prices accounts for your time spent designing the bouquet. Generally these types of bunches and bouquets require minimum design. If you are sending the bouquet out the door in a vase or container, make sure you consider that cost as well. Visit other markets or farm stands near you and compare your quality and pricing before finalizing it. 

Customer Experience Factor

For situations that depend on customer experience, such as pick-your-own flowers or workshops where customers create bouquets, pricing should reflect what the experience itself is worth to the buyer. For pick-your-own pricing you will need to make some guesses about the flowers your guests will pick in various seasons and then use the spreadsheet to calculate the flower cost as you did for bouquets.

For simpler experiences (e.g., pick-your-own with limited amenities), you might choose a 1.5 experience multiplier. However, if you’re offering a full agritourism experience (with guided tours, seating, and other amenities) or your site has a significant ‘wow’ factor, consider using a 2.5 or higher multiplier. The key is that the experience itself adds value beyond the simple cost of the flowers. Again, compare your pricing with similar farms in your area to ensure competitiveness.

Once-in-a-Lifetime Factor

When you’re selling flowers for significant life events such as weddings, milestone anniversaries, or memorials, your pricing should account for the time, expertise, and emotional sensitivity required. For these uncommon and special events, customers are not just purchasing flowers—they are buying moods and memories.

If you are just starting out, consider applying a 2.0 to 3.0 multiplier and don’t forget to include any extra costs such as vases, delivery, or packaging when calculating the final price. The multiplier you choose is not carved in stone. As you gain experience and reputation, you should consider increasing it. 

 

Other pricing resources

We’ve only scratched the surface of a complex process. The data and guidelines here are a starting point for confidently setting prices! For more in-depth tips and strategies on wholesale pricing, stay tuned for our upcoming presentation on January 26!

In addition,  here are some great resources on cut flower pricing to help you further fine-tune your pricing approach:

Pricing Videos

Flower Math Series (2024). An excellent series of discussions between Ellen Frost (florist) and Jenny Love (flower farmer) about selling to florists. Topics include: price per stem, product shrink, quality tiers, delivery fees, and win-win strategies. Available on Floral Guild Radio and Ellen Frost’s YouTube channel. 

ASCFG presentations. The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers has several conference presentations about pricing, available in the members section of their website (a good reason to join if you haven’t already!). 

Wholesale Price Lists

Boston Terminal Market Prices. US source listing wholesale prices for flowers sold to other wholesalers and distributors (in USD).   

Ontario Flower Growers Cooperative (OFG). Member-based organization provides access to weekly flower auction and online sale prices. ontarioflowers.com

Mailing lists. Some floral distributors will add you to their mailing list. You can ask distributors near you (sometimes they require a minimum purchase or a business number to stay on their mailing lists).

More resources for

Starting up & scaling

Learn more about Open Flower Network

Financial support was provided under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.