Price FREEZE promise
Great value flowers
We’re keeping our prices the same as they were LAST Christmas. Sending flowers direct from where they’re grown has always meant great value. Our promise is that the price of sending Isles of Scilly Scented Narcissi with Scilly Flowers will not increase in 2022.
We certainly don’t live in some utopia that isn’t affected by the cost of living crisis. Like all businesses we’ve seen some costs increase massively but in other areas, mainly because we are growing flowers we send direct from our farm, we’ve been able to control costs and we want to pass that good fortune on to you.
There are plenty of things we can't control for example packaging costs. These have rocketed and we can't really send your flowers successfully without a well structured box. But in other areas we're able to have a little more control, for example....
Direct from where they're grown
Because your flowers are sent direct from Scilly they pass through far fewer stages than flowers that have come through more complex supply chains with a charge needing to be added every time the flowers pass through a different business. Our flowers also don't have very far to travel. The vast majority of flowers, especially in the winter, are imported and therefore clock up far more flower miles and as fuel prices rise that increases costs.
Grown in the UK
Brexit has resulted in a massive increase in red tape, especially around the import of fresh produce. This means imported flowers are passing through even more stages than before and incurring import taxes as well. Add to this a weaker pound and the cost of imported flowers has risen an awful lot. Flowers grown on the Isles of Scilly obviously avoid all of these extra costs.
Grown outdoors
All our scented narcissi grow outdoors throughout the winter. This is possible due to the unique climate of the Isles of Scilly. The islands enjoy some of the longest hours of sunlight in the UK and because we're on a small island surrounded by water our average winter temperatures are higher. This means that we don't need to pay for large amounts of expensive energy to heat or light large glass houses.
Solar power
The most energy hungry part of our farm is running the large cold store that keeps your flowers in good condition until they're ready to go in the post. On top of one of our large shed roofs we have installed a large array of solar panels that now generate about half of the farm's energy needs. This investment has cushioned us from the effect the high price of electricity would have had on the cost of running the cold store.
Plenty of layers
Our packing shed is intentionally unheated to keep the flowers as fresh as possible and since the start of covid we have realised the benefits of good air circulation in our office as well. We're well wrapped up in a good number of layers from November to March with the latest must-have shed accessory being the hot water bottle belt! Consequently, we don't use much energy to heat the farm building.
But this can't last forever
We think our flowers have always been great value for money and we promise we won't put the price of our scented narcissi up until 2023, meaning your flowers are the same price they were last Christmas. Realistically we won't be able to hold our prices for much longer but this Christmas we hope our price freeze promise helps a little.
