A Crucial Mother's Day for Artisans and Florists
To say that the past few years have been difficult for independent florists would be an understatement: between prolonged store closures due to the pandemic, rising energy costs that have driven up the price of flowers, and increased competition from online florists, independent florists are counting on Mother’s Day to revive their business.
In stores, florists are gearing up for the biggest day of the year as Mother's Day Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 29. To say that this day is crucial for florists would be an understatement: it’s estimated that independent florists generate nearly 20% of their revenue on this occasion. This is cause for hope, but also for high expectations as the date approaches.
Yet artisan florists have every reason to approach this event with confidence. First of all, they continue to enjoy the overwhelming trust of their clientele, for whom their expertise is a guarantee of quality. Furthermore, they remain the market’s leading “brick-and-mortar” sales channel, thanks to the trust placed in them by their customers, who are deeply committed to artisanal craftsmanship. Although this trend is declining slightly, florists still account for 46% of plant and greenery sales, according to the 2020 Xerfi study.
Last year, however, Mother’s Day had indeed gotten off to a strange start for artisanal florists: the peony, considered one of the French people’s favorite flowers as spring, faced a sharp rise in price. At the height of this mini-crisis, the price of peonies could reach as high as €2.75 at the wholesaler, which led florists to either charge prices that were off-putting to their customers in-store or, in most cases, to cut into their own profit margins.
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The ubiquity of Dutch production
What are the reasons for this sudden increase in prices? For one thing, the peonies are primarily grown in the Netherlands, which experienced heavy rainfall in 2021 that delayed blooming and created a gap between supply and demand. On the other hand, the peony’s growing popularity among consumers has prompted supermarkets to place massive orders for peonies and artificially inflate demand from wholesalers, leaving florists little room to adapt.
This episode indirectly illustrates the profound changes taking place in the flower market: faced with a globalized production sector overwhelmingly dominated by the Netherlands, independent florists have few resources to practice their craft as they see fit. The central role of Dutch horticulture is most clearly highlighted by the Aalsmeer flower auction, nicknamed “Le Cadran,” through which nearly all flowers sold in France pass—including those produced there.
Excessive consumption of red roses is encouraged by floral transmitters
Like any industry, the Dutch horticulture sector is seeking standardized products that are easy to produce and can withstand the multiple trips that plants must endure. Today, this iconic plant is the red rose, which is very popular with consumers. To overcome the constraints of seasonality and offer red roses year-round, growers must resort to production methods that are harmful to the environment: offshoring (to Ethiopia, Kenya, Ecuador, etc.), the use of pesticides banned in Europe, and heated greenhouses…
Florists are therefore dependent on these production methods and have little room to adjust their profit margins. Furthermore, the sale of these standard flowers is strongly encouraged by online flower delivery platforms, which are now used by more than 80% of florists and often remain their only online sales channel. Capturing the majority of online flower sales, these platforms charge exorbitant commissions that disadvantage florists. A 2021 survey by 60 Millions de consommateurs estimated that Interflora took, on average, 50% of the value of each bouquet sold.
Not to mention that these platforms impose a catalog of standard bouquets on florists, which limits their sourcing options and stifles their creativity. Finally, flower delivery networks render the work of florists invisible; they are rarely given credit for their work.
Ultimately, florists face significant constraints regarding the very composition of their inventory: dependent on Dutch production, they struggle to make room for French flowers on their displays, and the catalogs from flower wholesalers also impose “best-selling” flowers on them instead of seasonal ones. Under these conditions, it becomes difficult for artisanal florists to fully express their creativity.
Protecting florists' profit margins… and their creativity
The Sessile collective was founded to address this challenge; its mission is to champion the independence of florists by enabling them to keep the French art of floristry alive. Recognizing that market forces create economic uncertainty for floral professionals, the collective decided to adopt a model that is fairer to florists, allowing them to set their own prices for bouquets to adjust their margins while charging a lower commission. The fact that the site does not impose a catalog of standard bouquets also gives florists additional freedom; they can now offer their own original floral creations, thereby making more room for seasonal flowers.
The goal is to help them regain their independence so they can fully practice their craft and express their creativity. As Gilles Sonnet, a florist in Fontaine-lès-Dijon and member of the Sessile collective, explains: “Unlike others in the industry, florists are artisans; so it’s not the profit margin that matters to us, but a job well done.”
In practical terms, Sessile offers artisanal florists a fully customizable online store where they are free to sell the bouquets of their choice on their own terms. Furthermore, the collective aims to bridge the gap between the need for brick-and-mortar stores and the opportunities offered by the Internet. It is, therefore, a more equitable model of digitalization—the polar opposite of the “uberization” phenomenon already at work through flower delivery platforms—which must become the norm for artisanal florists.
For Mother’s Day, for example, the website doesn’t impose a standard bouquet but instead offers bouquets that better reflect each florist’s style and aesthetic sensibility, based on the principle that a bouquet is much more than just a collection of flowers. This allows everyone to find a unique floral arrangement that showcases seasonal flowers.
Who are we?
Sessile champions the independence of artisan florists online. Founded in 2019 by six friends, Sessile brings together 500 florists committed to transforming the industry and enables flower delivery throughout France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. By breaking away from the traditional online catalog model, the network highlights each florist’s expertise and helps keep the art of floristry alive. Florists can pursue their passion and create more creative bouquets because they have greater freedom to offer seasonal flowers and, whenever possible, locally sourced flowers.
