Unlocking The Challenges Hindering A Clear Route To Market For Sustainable Agroecological Cut Flower Growers In The UK

Project team

Professor David Bek

Funder

Innovate UK - this project is funded by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs’ Farming Innovation Programme Research Starter 3 Competition. 

Collaborators

Jill Timms (Surrey University)
Zanna Hoskins (Spindle Flowers and Foliage)
Debbie Scott (East Lothian Flower Farm)
Lowri Davies (UXR Consulting)
Aaron Hirtenstein (Shepherd Stone Ltd)

Total value

£55,000 (£7,000 CU)

Duration

November 2024 – January 2026

Project team

This project tackles the important issue of how small-scale flower producers’ access to markets can be facilitated through the creation of a distribution hub model. There are many small-scale growers in the UK who are committed to more sustainable, seasonal, low input production but their access to local UK markets is hindered by the lack of a suitable trading infrastructure. The development of a distribution hub model for local flowers has the potential to open routes to market for small-scale growers, who themselves have potential to substantially increase production to meet latent demand.

Project objectives

The academic research team's overarching objective is to:

• Collect and analyse data that will facilitate the development of a hub-based supply model to increase the potential for sustainable flower production. Specifically, this will involve:
• Undertaking research to identify and evaluate successful short flower supply chains models in different parts of the world
• Defining principles and metrics of sustainability, provide secondary source analysis on key sustainability issues such as carbon mitigation
• Undertaking market research on current UK flower and sustainable flower growing and market size and structure

Impact statement

This project has the potential to facilitate the expansion of UK small-scale flower production, reducing the environmental impacts of the flower industry and providing employment for people committed to sustainable forms of production.