Delivering flowers in this COVID time
Living and working in Perth, Western Australia – we all feel as though we have hit the jackpot. Largely unaffected by lockdowns and COVID cases initially, Code Bloom has continued to trade almost as normal after the first initial lockdowns in April 2020.
In fact we consider ourselves to be in one of the lucky industries that have actually had increased trade from COVID. For all those people that are stuck in another state or another country from their loved ones, what can they do on that important occasion? Send flowers…. and with that our small business has become that bit busier! Which we love, and it is heartwarming to read all the beautiful messages and thoughts that we have been delivering.
So what has changed in the floral industry in Perth due to COVID? Pretty much everything!
If you consider that the majority of the flowers we sell are imported that means there are some pretty big consequences from COVID. Regardless of whether the end destination of the flowers is COVID free there are still many cities and hands for the flowers to go through before they get to Perth, indeed if they do get to Perth. And the associated costs for the flowers to arrive have also increased due to the freight issues.
Flowers such as roses, orchids, carnations, disbuds, tropical leaves and anthuriums to name just a few are all imported from various countries across the world. Meaning that not only does the farm still need to be operating, so do all the freight handlers and airlines.
So when we say to you at our shop, we will place that order for you, but just be aware that sometimes our flowers don’t arrive – this is one of the reasons in this COVID world. Somewhere along the supply line there has been a problem. Most commonly this leads to our flowers missing their flight or the flights being cancelled altogether. So we always like to have a few backup flower plans for your orders, just in case!
Bear in mind we aren’t talking just about import issues affecting flowers either. Due to our industry becoming so much busier than expected even the local growers are struggling to keep up with demand. In previous years these local flowers such as foliages, natives and chrysanthemums were easily obtainable without even pre-ordering them. Essentially all stems of flowers now have to be pre-ordered to ensure that the shop may receive an allocation of the supply.
Some weeks seem almost like back to normal, pre –COVID days in terms of flower supply. And other weeks, we end up struggling to find this and that after flight cancellations.
We are appreciative that most of our lovely customers are very understanding of the situation when it is explained. And whilst we can do our best to hit your floral brief exactly, sometimes it is simply out of our hands.
Overall we know just how lucky we are here in Perth, our business is still open, we are all still employed and we can catch up with our local family and friends with few restrictions. On top of that we are making so many people even happier by delivering gorgeous blooms and gifts to their loved ones. If we can help you out in this situation please do get in touch and we will do our best to spread some cheer.
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