High energy prices, particularly for operating greenhouses, pose a major hurdle. Competition from supermarkets and petrol stations offering flowers further squeezes profit margins, according to Nathalie Warnier, owner of a flower shop in Strassen.
According to Warnier, customers rarely visit florists for smaller purchases, and those who do come, often have unrealistic expectations.
“People have become quite all-or-nothing these days; they want everything right here, right now. One person comes in asking for blue roses, another would like peonies that aren’t in season, or there are hundreds of thousands of flowers that we don’t have, but people think we should. And then they can’t find any other flowers, no matter what you have in stock, there’s nothing that suits them,” Warnier explains.
Warnier also highlights the challenge of last-minute orders, even for significant events like weddings.
Finding qualified trainees adds another layer of difficulty: “They often lack even basic education. They struggle with maths and writing, but these are things you just have to be able to do. That’s where the problems start: If they have to take an order and don’t know how to write it down, that’s where things start to get difficult,” Warnier laments.
With just 20 trainees in 2023, attracting young talent to the profession remains a concern.
