POPULAR PEONIES PROVIDE FLOWER POWER SALES BOOST AT CO-OP

• Co-op sees 70% sales increase on British flowers with Peonies outselling Carnations
• Sunflowers expected to have record-breaking sales year

Sales at the Co-op this week have shown that the ever-popular Carnation has been outsold by the bloom-of-the-moment, the Peony.

The Carnation, a quintessential British flower, has been a staple in bouquets for generations but has been overtaken in popularity by the new bloom.

The British Peony, which is only in season for around 6 weeks each year, has sent sales soaring at the Co-op, with a 70% increase year to date.

After a bumper crop due to great growing conditions in the East Midlands, the flower has seen its most popular sales period at the Co-op to date. Its rise in popularity on social media has also been cited as a sales driver, with the photogenic flower appearing on social media channels around 7,000* times every month this year. It’s ‘Instagram- appeal’ has made the Peony a celebrity favourite on the image sharing site.

As the Peony season comes to an end, the next British lines to land in stores will be Sunflowers and Gladioli which the convenience retailer anticipates will see a similar trend throughout the summer. Sales are expected to be up over 20% on last year, which will make it a record-breaking sales year for the famous fleur.

Nicky Proudlock, Produce & Horticulture Senior Buyer at the Co-op says; “We are having a really amazing season on British flowers, with sales up almost 70% year to date. This is spurred on by sales of the flower-of-the-moment, Peonies. Our British Peonies are outselling carnations in most of our stores – there has been a bumper crop this year, so even though they are only in season for a short period of time, they’ve given us a real boost.

“Our British Sunflowers are expected to make a similar impact when they land in stores this week. We’re anticipating that sales will grow at least 20% year on year, which would make it a record breaking sales year for us.”