Celebrate & Be In To Win With NZ Flowers Week November 22 – 26, 2021

Spring time is celebration time for the local cut flowers industry and during NZ Flowers Week flower lovers all over the country are invited to join the party.

From Monday November 22 through to Friday 26 the resilience, passion and skill of industry players, from growers to floral retailers will be acknowledged and just as importantly, their customers too.

For the sixth year in a row the event’s organisers Feel Good With Flowers have created a big bunch of great opportunities for people to revel in the beauty of quality, NZ-grown blooms and foliage, and have a chance to win prizes from a pool totalling $30,000.

During the week Feel Good With Flowers will be asking the NZ public to purchase blooms and bouquets from their favourite florists and support them using hashtags #supportlocalflowers and #nzflowersweek2021.

Thai-Anh Cooper from Feel Good With Flowers says as part of the campaign, six customers, six retailers and six growers will each have the chance to win $500 plus a hamper full of goodies.

“When customers purchase flowers they can nominate their local floral retailer and both the customer and the florist will go in the draw. Similarly floral retailers can nominate their favourite grower and these are just some of the prizes. Winning growers and retailers will also receive an exclusive media feature on their business. For more details go to: www.nzflowersweek.co.nz or www.feelgoodwithflowers.co.nz

NZ cut flowers need to be on Essential Goods list

Thai-Anh says it has been a challenging 12 months with COVID-19 having a major impact. “The loss of business during Level 4 lockdown and the continued restrictions nationwide have dramatically affected our industry, with some businesses losing more than half their annual income.

“However the resilience shown by our floral retailers and growers has been phenomenal. Their efforts and determination to drive their business forward and innovate during these trying times has been heroic and humbling. So in a loud shout out this year’s event is all about supporting local; supporting those who are passionate about creating a beautiful product and delivering it to the public.”

The country’s lockdowns revealed the buying behaviour of many Kiwis as they discovered their essentials to get them through the tough times. Whilst people were fighting for toilet paper in the supermarket aisles, the team at Feel Good with Flowers was fielding calls from flower lovers as to why they couldn’t purchase local blooms at this time. In a heart-breaking Government decision, NZ-grown flowers had been deemed non-essential.

This did not go down well with the team of 5 million Kiwis, many of whom love to buy, appreciate and share the powerful emotional boost that flowers always give. “At a time when mental health is so important and blooms give so much joy to so many, we firmly believe flowers need to be classed as Essential Goods,” says Thai-Anh.

Members of the cut flower industry are currently applying for an Essential Services listing, and working with the Covid Committee, educating officials on the group’s ability to operate safely in a contactless retail environment.

Love flowers? Buy local – it’s a lifeline for the industry

Quality wise, NZ-grown blooms and foliage propagated with skill and passion in Aotearoa are benchmarked alongside some of the best in the world. They look better and last longer too because they haven’t travelled half way round the world. “Buying local during NZ Flowers Week is a beautiful way to share the love and help keep the industry blooming,” Thai-Anh says.

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