Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news!

Subscribe I am already a subscriber

You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker).

As we provide the news for free, we are relying on revenues from our banners. So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.
Thanks!

Click here for a guide on disabling your adblocker.

Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news!

Subscribe I am already a subscriber

Alaska peony industry benefits from seasonal advantage

Alaska’s oil industry may be in a slump but there’s one new industry rising: the growing and export of fresh flowers, in particular peonies.

For certain raising peonies, the large blossoms beloved for weddings and other special events around the world, won’t replace oil as a source of high-paid jobs or state revenues, at least anytime soon.

Still, the creation of this mini-industry, which didn’t exist just a few years ago, is a testament to Alaskans’ ingenuity combined with the advent of efficient air cargo service through Alaska’s airports that makes just-in-time delivery of perishable products possible.

Alaskan peony farmers also have a seasonal market advantage in that Alaska flowers become available in mid-summer, which is past the growing season for Lower 48 farms, according to Mike Williams, who co-manages Alaska Peony Distributors, a Wasilla-based wholesaler and distributors

Production in the state is growing fast, also. Alaska Peony Distributors expects to ship 35,000 to 40,000 cuts stems this year through a new processing and packing facility at Lake Hood, said Meghan Williams, who helps manage the company. That’s up from 20,000 stems last year.

Williams said production next year is conservatively estimated at 60,000 stems.

Read more at The Alaska Journal of Commerce
Publication date: