We all love our flowers, but do you know where they come from?
Before you state the obvious - "Well, the ground of course!" (You are technically right!) Flowers in Australia can have a pretty unclear point of origin.
Unfortunately, Imports are a concern for the Australian Flower Growing industry, cheap imports that are able to be grown at much bigger sizes, and for a lot less, leaves little competitive edge for our Aussie Growers and without appropriate labelling of their origin.
Why does it matter? Well for one, where possible, we want to support local, local purchases supports our local economy, and better quality flowers, without all the nasties that come with imports.
Imported Flowers are coming from countries with different pests and diseases, while our awesome team at the border are doing their best to prevent these from coming in, they aren't perfect and despite the chemicals they spray the containers full of flowers with, our beloved ecosystem is still at risk.
"What should I do?" You may ask, Well consider where you buy your Flowers from and whether that Florist is transparent about their flower sourcing. Here at Flowers Gold Coast we typically source most of our Flowers from Local Growers and suppliers within Queensland or across Australia. Where clients are seeking specific flowers out of season, or flowers that typically cannot be grown within Australia (due to size or variety), we will seek to import through reputable local suppliers to ensure the highest care and quality is up-kept.
What about other Florists or Flower Suppliers? We talk to a lot of Florists across the local industry and overwhelmingly most follow the same process as us, sourcing locally where possible, unfortunately there are some bigger suppliers & supermarkets that offer cheap and mass produced bouquets that do not get the same care for the flowers that you would get from your local florist, and that may not be made with local flowers.