Sun Sentinel: U.S. flower farmers are increasingly betting on organic products to compete with other world-wide flower growers

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

U.S. flower farmers are increasingly betting on organic products to compete with other world-wide flower growers

WATSONVILLE, Calif. · Along a fog-blanketed swath of coastline waiting to burst forth with vivid colors, there are signs of the yesterdays, todays and tomorrows of the flower industry. Empty greenhouses flank Josh Dautoff's farm, relics of the bust that came when cheap imports drove his neighbors out of business. Tiny yellow bulbinellas, tropical red-and-white amaryllis and more than 150 other varieties replace the daisies his parents grew in the simpler days of floral farming, when a family could make a living with one flower. A barren 6-acre plot soon will hold the seeds of a future crop of organic sunflowers. Farmers who weathered a wave of cheap imports in the last decade by coaxing their fields to yield hundreds of harder-to-find varieties are increasingly betting on organic flowers, a nascent industry that is taking bloom on the heels of the organic food boom. Though the market for organic flowers is still small -- sales totaled $8 million in 2003, a fraction of the $19.4 billion consumers spent on all flowers nationally -- it's growing fast as consumers wary of chemicals start looking for the same standard in other products such as soaps, clothing, cosmetics -- and Valentine's Day bouquets. There's no evidence that organic flowers are healthier, but consumers are increasingly willing to pay more for products made without chemicals harmful to workers or the environment. Organic flower sales are expected to grow 13 percent annually through 2008, according to the Organic Trade Association. For decades, California had supplied the nation's flower shops. But producers here couldn't compete with South America's lower wages and steady sunshine. Foreign growers also benefited from being able to use more pesticides to create beautiful flowers, but the chemicals left workers with blurred vision, trembling hands, headaches and dizziness. California still grows 72 percent of domestically produced flowers. But today, 80 percent of the flowers Americans buy are foreign, compared with 45 percent 15 years ago. South Florida has benefited from the shift, serving as a key distribution center for imported flowers including roses from Colombia and Ecuador. Miami International Airport now ranks as the No. 1 U.S. airport for international freight, with cut flowers as its single largest import.