"Millennials are extremely good for plant industry"

Millennials can be pretty fickle. They know what they want, and they want it now. Marketing to Millennials may be tricky, but they offer a great target market for growers, because they're always on the lookout for something new. Canadian tropical plant grower Terry Colasanti of Colasanti Farms loves this generation of customers. He refers to them as "the best group of customers we have ever had."

Colasanti, who supplies the Canadian market, sees a strong demand from the Millennials for their plants. "This group, mostly aged around 30, are known for the fact that they want everything quickly and are eagerly looking for new things." According to Terry, this latter characteristic is what makes them such a positive demographic for the ornamental industry.

"For many years, we have been marketing our plants to a generation that is used to caring for their plants and keep them in their homes for years. The people in that generation are now retired and the following generation is becoming the most important: Millennials. People in this group, however, are different. They do not want to have plants in their homes for as a long time. They have a plant for just one or two flowering seasons. Then, they are going to look for other or new varieties."

"Millennials are extremely good for the plant industry." According to Colasanti, the advantages are twofold. They don't just buy plants more frequently, they are also more eager to try new varieties. "For 74 years now, we've been supplying tropical plants and we now see the demand in general and the demand for new varieties growing. Every year, we expand the greenhouse a little bit and try to grow new plants. And these new plants are being accepted quite quickly nowadays."

Colasanti also finds Millennials one of the most educated consumer groups. "They educate themselves before they purchase an item. They see it, look on their phone how to care for it, and then decide to buy it or not. They are not afraid to see what it takes to grow that plant." This seems to be an advantage for the retailers who sell the finished plants. "In a garden center, for example, people used to ask employees many questions, now they are finding the answers on their phone. In this way, the garden center employees can assist them with more detailed information, because the basic growing culture has already been researched.”

For more information
Colasanti Farms
Terry Colasanti
Email: terry@colasanti.com
www.colasanti.com