1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:05,440 Gabrielle LaTora: Okay, so our next speakers today, we have a message from the Atlanta Flower Collective. 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,520 Gabrielle LaTora: So we'll play their short intro and then they are on. 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:23,240 Gabrielle LaTora: Founded by area growers, the collective aggregates locally grown cut flowers and connects them with florists and the public across Metro Atlanta and Athens, giving small flower farms a shared path to wholesale markets. 4 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:25,760 Gabrielle LaTora: Oh, here we are. 5 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:26,880 Ashley Blackstone: Yeah, here we are. 6 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:27,360 Jess Neese: Okay. 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,000 Ashley Blackstone: Jess, you want to? Yeah, I'll start off. 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:31,680 Jess Neese: My name is Jess Neese. 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:32,800 Jess Neese: First of all, I apologize. 10 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:34,080 Jess Neese: I'm outside. My 11 00:00:34,540 --> 00:00:40,540 Jess Neese: speaker fell inside and I have dogs in there, so maybe a little trafficky. 12 00:00:40,540 --> 00:00:42,140 Jess Neese: My name is Jess Neese. 13 00:00:42,140 --> 00:00:43,100 Jess Neese: I'm one of the 14 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:51,360 Jess Neese: founders of the Atlanta Flower Collective along with Ashley Blackstone with Wellspring Farms. 15 00:00:51,420 --> 00:00:57,739 Jess Neese: I also own a small farm, Field and Flower, in the Atlanta area. 16 00:00:57,739 --> 00:00:59,260 Jess Neese: Ashley and I 17 00:01:00,460 --> 00:01:10,700 Jess Neese: met in 2000 and got together and just started brainstorming about building a collective 18 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:21,479 Jess Neese: because as farmers, we were worn out with all of handling all of the sales and marketing and distribution ourselves. 19 00:01:21,860 --> 00:01:34,820 Jess Neese: On December of 2024, we got together and spent a day and just decided that this was something we were going to try to build 20 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:47,720 Jess Neese: and then we spent about nine months coming up with the idea, interviewing other collectives around the United States and coming up with our concept. 21 00:01:47,439 --> 00:01:53,600 Jess Neese: And then we launched in September of 2025. 22 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:54,560 Jess Neese: So we 23 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:06,560 Jess Neese: operated in the fall and then we've run through the spring and into summer and we'll be rounding out our first year of operations at the end of the summer. 24 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:13,400 Jess Neese: The collective is a privately owned LLC by Ashley and I 25 00:02:14,020 --> 00:02:23,300 Jess Neese: and we facilitate the sales, distribution, and marketing of locally grown cut flower farms. 26 00:02:23,220 --> 00:02:33,140 Jess Neese: We have eight member farms who started off with us and we have not added anyone as of yet while we're 27 00:02:33,540 --> 00:02:39,060 Jess Neese: basically just filling out the market and seeing what the needs are. 28 00:02:39,060 --> 00:02:45,860 Jess Neese: So we started and we sell primarily to wholesale buyers. 29 00:02:45,940 --> 00:02:54,500 Jess Neese: That's florists, event designers, daily wedding designers, business to business, 30 00:02:54,520 --> 00:03:02,599 Jess Neese: church guilds, garden clubs, anyone that has a vested interest and need for our flowers. 31 00:03:02,599 --> 00:03:03,480 Jess Neese: We sell 32 00:03:04,879 --> 00:03:17,200 Jess Neese: several ways. You can purchase or you can contact us and let us know that you have a future event and we have someone who works with us 33 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:27,519 Jess Neese: who works with the buyer to come up with an order for something on down the road so that you get first picks. 34 00:03:27,340 --> 00:03:34,060 Jess Neese: We do pre-orders every Thursday, which is for the following week distribution. 35 00:03:34,060 --> 00:03:40,140 Jess Neese: And then we also have floor sales where you can schedule an appointment to come shop our cooler. 36 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:46,280 Jess Neese: We do sell, we do deliver our product up to 100 miles. 37 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:52,200 Jess Neese: We utilize Roadie, which is part of UPS that's in the Atlanta area. 38 00:03:51,700 --> 00:03:56,260 Jess Neese: And then we also use Uber Courier Service to distribute. 39 00:03:56,260 --> 00:03:59,459 Jess Neese: We have a market manager who works 40 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:14,760 Jess Neese: throughout the year and then we also have Ashley and I for anything that comes up and another person that helps with remotely with event orders, client intake 41 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:16,680 Jess Neese: and accounts receivable. 42 00:04:16,919 --> 00:04:23,160 Jess Neese: Trying to think, what else I'm missing. 43 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:31,320 Jess Neese: With our farms we are a consignment based structure, meaning we pay out a 44 00:04:31,639 --> 00:04:34,120 Jess Neese: certain portion to our farms. 45 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,520 Jess Neese: We do not pre-buy everything. 46 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:40,840 Jess Neese: The farms are paid on what is selling. 47 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:43,560 Jess Neese: We're trying to think. 48 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,960 Jess Neese: Distribution. 49 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:53,800 Jess Neese: Part of the reason that we came up with this idea is to coagulate what everyone was doing. 50 00:04:54,139 --> 00:05:08,860 Jess Neese: But as the farmers, we wanted to provide a community amongst each other to help support each other because farming can get lonely and having each other to bounce off ideas 51 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:13,000 Jess Neese: has been, I think, very encouraging for all the farmers. 52 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:18,120 Jess Neese: And then also just to provide a better work life balance because 53 00:05:19,420 --> 00:05:27,180 Jess Neese: farming is a very hard profession and burnout is really high in the community. 54 00:05:27,180 --> 00:05:28,300 Jess Neese: So taking 55 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:43,759 Jess Neese: the some of the tasks like the client communication and the distribution off farmers plates has really given everyone a lot more time, I would say. 56 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,639 Jess Neese: Let's see, we do distribute up to 100 miles. 57 00:05:47,639 --> 00:05:48,520 Jess Neese: Did I say that? 58 00:05:48,759 --> 00:05:51,400 Jess Neese: Future orders, branding. 59 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:58,040 Jess Neese: Our schedule is that we operate Tuesday through Friday. 60 00:05:58,060 --> 00:06:09,500 Jess Neese: So farms bring their product either Monday night or Tuesday morning, and then we start distributing Tuesday morning through Friday. 61 00:06:09,420 --> 00:06:19,260 Jess Neese: We open up our floor sales Tuesday around lunchtime and then you can also schedule to shop every day through Friday at lunchtime. 62 00:06:19,260 --> 00:06:24,060 Jess Neese: We've recently, we do have online sales 63 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:33,960 Jess Neese: for our floor sales and we just evaluate that on the amount of traffic so that we can manage the inventory as we enter order. 64 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:34,280 Jess Neese: So 65 00:06:34,639 --> 00:06:49,360 Jess Neese: we have somewhat of a live inventory for our sales, which is pretty rare, but sometimes we have to turn it off if we can't process our orders fast enough so that we don't oversell someone online with someone who's currently 66 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:51,760 Jess Neese: at the floor. 67 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:58,320 Jess Neese: We use a platform for selling called the Open Food Network. 68 00:06:58,320 --> 00:06:59,440 Jess Neese: We did a lot of 69 00:06:59,820 --> 00:07:06,780 Jess Neese: research into trying to figure out what we wanted to use and found the Open Food Network. 70 00:07:06,780 --> 00:07:11,740 Jess Neese: It's a nonprofit that was built for farms 71 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:18,680 Jess Neese: to have a very low cost barrier and quick upstart. 72 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:25,160 Jess Neese: And those were two things that helped us and they could support a hub 73 00:07:25,699 --> 00:07:35,300 Jess Neese: situation like a collective where every farm inputs their inventory and then it aggregates it so that we can sell it. 74 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:43,880 Jess Neese: They were also able to support us having multiple inventory structures because we have pre-sale inventory and we have 75 00:07:44,340 --> 00:07:46,500 Jess Neese: floor sale inventory. 76 00:07:46,500 --> 00:07:52,100 Jess Neese: Inventory is probably the hardest thing that we had to work on. 77 00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:55,140 Jess Neese: And if you didn't know, you didn't know. 78 00:07:55,140 --> 00:07:57,140 Jess Neese: And so we figured that out. 79 00:07:57,340 --> 00:08:05,100 Jess Neese: Open Food Network is not perfect by any means, but it's actually, it's been very helpful to get us up and started 80 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:13,560 Jess Neese: and I would highly recommend if you're a farm, you can use that system as well to sell to your clients. 81 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,080 Jess Neese: And some of our farms do that as well. 82 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,280 Jess Neese: Ashley, do you have anything to add? 83 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,240 Jess Neese: I feel like I went over a lot fast. 84 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:24,160 Jess Neese: I didn't want to run out of time. 85 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,840 Ashley Blackstone: Yeah, no, I'm sorry, my computer's making a weird noise all of a sudden, but 86 00:08:27,700 --> 00:08:29,060 Ashley Blackstone: I don't, you've nailed it. 87 00:08:29,060 --> 00:08:31,700 Ashley Blackstone: I don't, I didn't even have, I could just sit here and listen. 88 00:08:31,700 --> 00:08:38,900 Ashley Blackstone: No, other than from a farm perspective, it has increased our time at the farm. 89 00:08:39,020 --> 00:08:39,980 Ashley Blackstone: Exponentially. 90 00:08:39,980 --> 00:08:46,220 Ashley Blackstone: It's just been incredibly easier to take the product to one location. 91 00:08:46,220 --> 00:08:49,820 Ashley Blackstone: I really feel like that aspect for the farmers has 92 00:08:50,700 --> 00:08:53,180 Ashley Blackstone: improved our quality of life, really. 93 00:08:53,180 --> 00:08:59,980 Ashley Blackstone: And it's nice because you also can drop your product off and you see the other farmers and you're able to chit chat if you need to. 94 00:08:59,980 --> 00:09:05,180 Ashley Blackstone: And so it's definitely helped with that, like you said, being alone out working in the fields. 95 00:09:04,839 --> 00:09:06,600 Ashley Blackstone: But no, it's been incredible. 96 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:10,120 Ashley Blackstone: It's been more, it's been more than we thought, I feel like. 97 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:16,600 Ashley Blackstone: We're, I feel like we're thrilled how well it's gone for the farms and for the florists. 98 00:09:16,820 --> 00:09:20,980 Jess Neese: Yeah, our location we ended up launching at my farm. 99 00:09:20,980 --> 00:09:26,100 Jess Neese: I have a small farm in the Atlanta area. 100 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:36,040 Jess Neese: And our season runs from March through Thanksgiving, some early product around Valentine's Day. 101 00:09:36,020 --> 00:09:46,580 Jess Neese: So it was hard for us to go into signing a lease and I had some land and we threw a cooler up in the backyard 102 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:49,640 Jess Neese: of the property and it's been working. 103 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:57,720 Jess Neese: The location's good and we just have a little bit more flexibility with space while we're figuring out 104 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:05,160 Jess Neese: our, basically the finances and what we can sell and what the market's demanding. 105 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:06,360 Jess Neese: I think that's it. 106 00:10:06,519 --> 00:10:07,480 Jess Neese: We could take any 107 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:15,000 Jess Neese: questions if anything pops out and we are part of a breakout session later on in this schedule. 108 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:15,840 Bethany Harris: All right. 109 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:17,760 Bethany Harris: Thank you, Ashley and Jessica, for your time. 110 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,480 Bethany Harris: And we do have a couple questions that are coming in. 111 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:26,320 Bethany Harris: One of the first ones is talking about how to make an appointment to visit the collective. 112 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,280 Bethany Harris: So we have florists and farmers that are interested in coming, 113 00:10:29,060 --> 00:10:31,220 Bethany Harris: taking a visit to the collective. 114 00:10:31,220 --> 00:10:32,740 Bethany Harris: Is there an appointment process? 115 00:10:32,740 --> 00:10:33,940 Bethany Harris: How does that work? 116 00:10:33,940 --> 00:10:36,260 Jess Neese: Yeah, we'd be happy to take an appointment. 117 00:10:36,260 --> 00:10:41,860 Jess Neese: You can actually schedule an appointment online to shop the cooler, 118 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:54,600 Jess Neese: which it's on our website and it's from Tuesday to Fridays and you can pick a time and a hundred percent if you're a grower come see us to see what we're doing. 119 00:10:54,660 --> 00:11:00,340 Jess Neese: We also did get lots of questions about when we're going to take new growers. 120 00:11:00,340 --> 00:11:03,700 Jess Neese: And right now we're just 121 00:11:04,020 --> 00:11:12,100 Jess Neese: committing to our founding farmers and once we exhaust demand is when we'll start expanding. 122 00:11:12,220 --> 00:11:13,100 Bethany Harris: Perfect. 123 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:19,100 Bethany Harris: And then we've got one more and it's as I start a collective in North Alabama. 124 00:11:19,100 --> 00:11:21,900 Bethany Harris: They're having struggles with stem count estimates. 125 00:11:21,900 --> 00:11:24,060 Bethany Harris: So how do you gather that information? 126 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:25,680 Jess Neese: Trial and error. 127 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:30,160 Jess Neese: And just talking to farmers, talk to other collectives. 128 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:36,640 Jess Neese: We didn't do a lot of projections like that. 129 00:11:36,180 --> 00:11:47,620 Jess Neese: Ashley and I were pretty lucky in that we came in with a lot of established relationships with current buyers already. 130 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:54,440 Jess Neese: I think when we came in, we probably had a list of about a hundred florists that we were both working with. 131 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:58,440 Jess Neese: I think now we're up to almost 500. 132 00:11:58,440 --> 00:11:59,960 Jess Neese: So we 133 00:12:01,180 --> 00:12:11,740 Jess Neese: didn't spend a lot of time as a collective looking at production, but as farms we do talk about that a lot amongst each other. 134 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:21,640 Jess Neese: And so I would say as a farmer, get your group together and talk as much as you can to get production data. 135 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,360 Jess Neese: Because there's not central information 136 00:12:25,460 --> 00:12:36,020 Jess Neese: about crops and production, which is something that Ashley and I talked a lot about and trying to gather that information because it's 137 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,800 Jess Neese: there's no, I would say, one-stop place to get that data. 138 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:47,400 Ashley Blackstone: Was the stem count question in regard to for the farms learning how to 139 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:55,160 Ashley Blackstone: count how many stems are going to be available? Or is the question in regard to what we make it? I'm just, I'm confused about that question. 140 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,480 Jess Neese: Oh yeah, that's a good idea to think about. 141 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:04,800 Bethany Harris: Yeah, I think it's, my understanding is they're starting a collective and thinking this is specific maybe to the farm directly. 142 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:06,400 Bethany Harris: You know, maybe they're 143 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:09,200 Bethany Harris: their farmers are asking these questions to them. 144 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:09,600 Ashley Blackstone: Okay. 145 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,880 Ashley Blackstone: Yes, how the farmer counts the stems for availability. 146 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,200 Ashley Blackstone: Oh, that just takes practice over time. 147 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:15,920 Ashley Blackstone: It's hard. 148 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,160 Ashley Blackstone: That is hard to estimate. 149 00:13:17,959 --> 00:13:19,399 Ashley Blackstone: You have to know each crop. 150 00:13:19,399 --> 00:13:26,760 Ashley Blackstone: You have to. Some weeks I've gone over and done too many, but typically I tend to underestimate. 151 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,399 Ashley Blackstone: But it's really crop specific. 152 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:35,120 Ashley Blackstone: Yeah, most farms end up underestimating when they do their pre-sales. 153 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:39,520 Jess Neese: But as time goes on, your farms will get more confident. 154 00:13:39,860 --> 00:13:46,100 Jess Neese: And the people that really nail it will actually capture some of those initial sales. 155 00:13:46,100 --> 00:13:50,019 Jess Neese: But if you do have the opportunity to do floor sales, 156 00:13:50,180 --> 00:13:58,180 Jess Neese: we have seen that between pre-sales and floor sales, our sales are actually almost split 50-50. 157 00:13:58,180 --> 00:14:00,500 Jess Neese: So there's a lot of opportunity 158 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,680 Jess Neese: out there on both sides. 159 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:10,200 Jess Neese: And there are collectives that only do pre-sales, I think due to location and space. 160 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:15,080 Jess Neese: So I think there's different ways if you're starting a collective to think about it. 161 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,519 Bethany Harris: Awesome. Thank you all very much for your time.